


Templeschool: Office Hours

by Stargazer19



Series: Templeschool [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Apparently I Am Incapable of Writing This Story Without Angst, Big Brother Twoie, Brotherly Bonding, Corrupted Steven Theory, F/F, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Post-Episode: s06e09 Little Graduation, Pre-Episode: s06e10 Prickly Pair, Request Based Chapters, Sequel to Templeschool, Sibling Bonding, Time Travel, Younger Brother Steven, post corrupted steven
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:00:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 43,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25750990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stargazer19/pseuds/Stargazer19
Summary: A story based on requests for episodes in Steven Universe continuing from the end of Templeschool. I also do alternate chapter endings that will be posted on my story "What If?" upon request.Twoie has decided that he will remain in the past to help his family deal with the threat of Homeworld. Jasper is still around, and the threat of Homeworld looms over the Crystal Gems. They will have to rely on each other to create a better future.Updates on Saturdays!
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Greg Universe & Steven Universe, Priyanka Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe)
Series: Templeschool [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935259
Comments: 378
Kudos: 233





	1. Heart Of A Monster Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody, and welcome to the sequel of Templeschool! :D I have a list of requested chapters from Templeschool, and I'm still taking requests if there are other episodes you want. Most of the big ones have been requested already, like the Trial, the fights with Jasper, Change Your Mind, and I have decided that to keep with continuity, I will be writing the episodes in chronological order. Sorry to everyone who is looking forward to Change Your Mind. I just want to make sure that anything that happens in earlier chapters makes sense when I get to the later ones. 
> 
> This is a rewrite of Chapter 42 of Templeschool. HelloIAmAGreenDorito wanted an alternate ending where Bismuth did not hurt/injure Twoie since it is a concept that has been done in several Time Travel AU stories. I promised them that I could write an alternate version where that didn’t happen, and now I have the chance! I present to you, the alternate ending of Chapter 42!
> 
> Reminder: The Crystal Gems requested Bismuth to follow them into the temple so they could have a discussion. They confronted Bismuth on the fact that she has the Breaking Point and that they want her to destroy it. The talk already wasn't going well when Twoie arrives.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Many things have changed now that Twoie has decided to remain in Beach City. As he adjusts to his new life, he gets the chance to meet an old friend again. No matter how much he'd like to help her, there's only so much he can do for Centi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! So I'm back with the first official continuation of Templeschool! This two-parter is going to be based on Monster Reunion. As you will read, I took the liberty to make some changes to this world, the main one being some changes to the beach house since Greg is now putting in more effort to be there for his sons. Another change is that the house will look a little more like the house in Future, except with a third-story room above Steven's room for Twoie (those parts haven't been built yet though). This chapter is mostly world-building, and then we'll be getting to the actual part of Monster Reunion next chapter. I hope you guys like it! :D
> 
> [ This ](https://shadow-light19.tumblr.com/post/626479897704054784/so-for-anyone-who-was-curious-about-what-the-new) is what the house will look like once the renovations on the brothers' bedrooms are done. (Not fully completed but a decent reference)

“Psst.” Twoie grumbled, lightly swiping at whoever was shaking him awake. The Maheswarans’ had moved back to Beach City yesterday, and Twoie had gone over with Steven to help them. It had been amazing to see their mom again, and the two had fun getting to know Doug better. Steven also got the chance to chat with Connie about everything that happened, thankfully away from where Twoie could hear them. Once the moving truck was unpacked, and Doug had returned it to the renters, the Maheswarans invited them to stay for dinner. Which is why they accidentally left the house at 3 am instead of 10 pm like Twoie had planned. Upon returning home, both brothers immediately collapsed into bed. That’s why Twoie groaned in annoyance when the shaking returned. “Twoie, I know you’re tired, but I need your help! Come on, son, wake up!” The young man blearily cracked open his eyes.

“Fine, I’m up.” Twoie sighed heavily while he slowly propped himself up on his elbows. “Dad… What are you wearing?” His dad grinned and posed.

“What do you think? I look like a yacht owner, right?” Greg was wearing a green turtleneck sweater with grey ripped shorts and a brown coat. Honestly, Twoie wouldn’t think of yacht owner if he saw someone dressed like that. Wait… yacht? The time traveler’s eyes widened, and he sat up, fully awake.

“Wait, Dad! Did you already rent the boat?” Greg stared at him in surprise.

“Not yet. I wanted to ask you to come with me, but I’m starting to worry about this trip now that you look so panicked. Not a good idea, Schtu-ball?” Twoie sighed in relief and shook his head. Both men froze when Steven shifted in bed. After a moment, the kid began softly snoring again. Greg motioned for Twoie to follow him, so they could talk without disturbing Steven.

They quietly made their way out of the house and onto the front porch. “Sorry, Dad.” Twoie looked out over the porch rail to stare at the ocean. Greg recognized the contemplative look as one that his eldest son wore when he was planning a way to fix the future. “When you decided to rent the boat, Steven thought it’d be a great idea to bring Lapis along since she was so stressed about everything that happened with Malachite. We did have fun, but the trip was ruined by Jasper showing up. The boat ended up being destroyed, and Lapis had to relive some trauma. I don’t want any of you guys to experience that if I can help it.” Greg nodded, placing a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder.

“That sounds like an awful way for a fun trip to end. We can wait for another day, and hopefully, things will be different.” His dad shrugged his jacket off and started walking down the porch stairs. “I guess I’ll open the car wash today after all. Do you want to go get a donut before I go? I just need to change real quick.” Twoie looked down, realizing he was still in his clothes from last night.

“Yeah, I’ll meet you out here. I need to change too.” The young man walked back inside the house. He looked around the house, noting some of the recent additions with a soft smile.

Things had changed after Twoie reverted back from his corruption. One of the first changes had been family dinners. The gems made an effort to be at every dinner, regardless of whether they would actually eat. The dishrack was now always full of drying dishes.

Another welcome change involved their dad. Greg was usually busy at work during the day, but he no longer slept in his van at the car wash. Bismuth offered to fix up the house, and the gems readily agreed. The tiny hallway that led to the bathroom now included a stairwell leading to the new basement. Bismuth had built a room in the space underneath the house, which was now Greg’s room. Steven and Twoie loved having their father around all of the time, and it really improved the strain in Twoie’s and Greg’s relationship from the family road trip.

There were also more pictures and knickknacks in the living room. Some pictures of Lapis, Bismuth, and Peridot lined the shelves behind the couch, and Twoie chuckled at a group photo with him, his family, and the gems as he climbed the stairs.

The gems planned to continue renovating the rest of the house during the weekend. When they had found out what Twoie’s house looked like, they’d been all for making it larger. Pearl loved the thought of an observatory and garden, so Bismuth promised to draw up some blueprints and get back to them. He crept over to Steven’s dresser and grabbed a new change of clothes. Soon, Twoie wouldn’t have to worry about waking Steven up as often. He’d be getting his own room as well. Although the older brother enjoyed sharing a room with Steven, the room was just too small for the both of them. Twoie glanced at Steven before heading downstairs. The kid was still sleeping soundly, and Twoie decided against waking him. He would just bring his younger brother a donut from the store instead. The young man headed downstairs and quickly changed. He tossed his old clothes into the dirty basket, grabbed his jacket, and headed outside.

Right as Twoie reached the end of the porch stairs, the basement door opened. His dad stepped out in his usual outfit. Greg smiled as he twirled his car keys on his finger. “Steven’s not coming?” Twoie shook his head while they walked to the car.

“I’ll let him sleep till I get back.” His dad grinned and unlocked the door. They both climbed in, and Greg drove them to The Big Donut. They got their donuts, and Twoie waved as his dad drove to work, leaving him to walk back to the house. That was another significant change in Twoie’s life. He was no longer hiding from the rest of Beach City. Twoie dwelled on how nice it was to be friends with Sadie and the Cool Kids again as he walked up the beach to his house. His therapist had urged him to be more social, and Twoie was glad he listened to her. His old friends still remembered him as Steven’s older brother from their introduction when he first arrived in the past.

The half-gem walked up the stairs and entered the house. Pearl looked up from the couch and waved at him. “Good morning, Twoie! I’m surprised you’re up so early. I was sure you’d be asleep still, like Steven.” She chuckled while she folded some clean laundry. Twoie set the bag of donuts down on the counter and grabbed some plates.

“Dad woke me up so we could rent a boat, but I told him it wouldn’t be a good idea. We’ll need to be on the watch for Jasper now.” Pearl blinked before rising to her feet with a sigh. She fiddled with her ribbon as she walked to the temple door.

“I better go tell Garnet and Amethyst, so we’ll be prepared. Speaking of, did you bring a donut for Amethyst? I can send her to you once we’re done if you want?” She chimed while the door opened. Twoie smiled and nodded.

“That’d be great. Thanks, Pearl!” She disappeared into the temple, and Twoie set out a chocolate donut with sprinkles on two plates. He left the remaining couple of donuts in the bag. “Steven! Wake up! I’ve got donuts!” Twoie pulled out three glasses and filled them with milk. He heard Steven sleepily call out a greeting from upstairs, and he smiled as he set a plate and glass down on the bar counter for the kid. Twoie grabbed his own breakfast and chuckled as Steven pulled himself onto the barstool.

“Wha-, yawn, what are we doing today?” Steven nibbled on his donut while Twoie sat down next to him. The young man took a bite out of his donut and hummed in thought.

“Dad wanted to rent a boat, but I told him it’d end in a fight with Jasper, so we decided not to do that today.” Steven perked up at Jasper’s name. “I was thinking of other things that happened around this time, and it gave me an idea.” Now more awake, his younger brother tilted his head curiously while he ate his donut. Twoie pointed at the temple door. “We can’t cure her right now, but would you like to spend a little time with Centi?” Steven’s eyes became starry, and he scarfed down his breakfast.

“Hurry up, Twoie! I want to see Centi again!” The kid hopped off the stool and dumped his dishes in the sink. Twoie snorted as he finished his own breakfast. “Come on! You’re so slow!” Steven grabbed his brother’s hand and dragged him off the stool. Right before they got to the temple door, the Crystal Gems stepped out.

Amethyst smiled and pulled the two into a group hug. “Morning! I heard that I’ve got a donut with my name on it?” Twoie wriggled his arm out of the hug and pointed to the counter.

“Your donuts are in the bag, and I poured you a glass of milk.” She squealed in joy and ran off to the kitchen. Garnet and Pearl shook their heads fondly.

“Heading into the temple?” Garnet grinned as Steven ran behind Twoie and started pushing him through the door.

“Yeah! We’re going to hang out with Centi!” Steven called out, still pushing Twoie forward. The other two gems frowned.

“We’ll be fine! I promise!” Twoie added. Garnet and Pearl knew Twoie wouldn’t let anything happen to Steven, so they nodded. The door closed behind them, and Steven scanned the bubbled gems for his friend. Spotting the corrupted nephrite, he cheered and ran over.

“Hold on, Steven!” The kid paused, looking over his shoulder at his brother. Twoie walked over to him. “Before we release Centi, I want to go over what will happen. She’ll begin reforming in her bigger corrupted form, so we need to be ready to heal her when her gem is in reach. We can heal her slightly with our powers for several hours, but then she’ll return to her corrupted form. I promise you, though, that we won’t bubble her again after. She has some corrupted friends in a ship nearby that we can take her to. It’ll make her really happy to see them again.” Steven smiled and jumped for the bubble. Twoie felt a pang of sorrow at seeing the corrupted gem. The last time he’d seen her, she was practicing flying for air shows. He sighed and jumped, grabbing the bag of chaaps that had been floating beside her bubble.

“Don’t forget these.” Steven nodded happily at him as he popped the bubble. The brothers stood back as she began reforming to her larger state. Both boys licked their hand, and when Centipeetle kneeled on the ground, they touched her gem. Steven gasped as she reformed more gem-like, looking at them in confusion.


	2. Heart Of A Monster Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At first, there was only light. Centi wasn’t sure what to make of it, bud she knew she liked it. Then there was this voice inside of her, trying to remind her of something. What exactly, she couldn’t recall. It didn’t matter, though, because everything was warm and comforting. All she knew was that comforting feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I meant to upload this second part way sooner, but it took me a bit to think of how I wanted this to go. I had a request for more Warriors styled writing, and this has some of that because I wrote this from Centi's perspective. 
> 
> First off: Twoie changes pronouns from he/him to she/her towards the end of this chapter. That is completely intentional because Centi suspects that Twoie is a gem and gems go by she/her pronouns.  
> Second: Twoie is Kindred, and Steven is Little One. I wanted to have a little fun with the fact that Twoie was corrupted and make it more of a 'monster' reunion because Twoie gets in touch with his corruption instincts. Since he has remnants of corruption, I wanted him to have remnants of those instincts as well. 
> 
> It's a tiny detail, but if anyone is wondering what song I imagine Twoie singing, it's "Everything Stays" from Adventure Time. I just didn't think I needed to write out him actually singing it.
> 
> I hope you all are safe. COVID is still rampant in the world and has been affecting so many people. Also, as a Californian, I hope any other Californian who is reading this is alright. There are so many wildfires going on right now and things have been crazy. 
> 
> This note has gotten long, so I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I'll try to update again soon.

_At first, there was only light. Centi wasn’t sure what to make of it, bud she knew she liked it. Then there was this voice inside of her, trying to remind her of something. What exactly, she couldn’t recall. It didn’t matter, though, because everything was warm and comforting. All she knew as that comforting feeling._

_Centi was startled when her world exploded in a burst of color. She screeched in terror, trying to understand the feeling of her body changing when two things hit her eye. Centi shrieked in surprise and recoiled. Finally, the light died down, revealing two creatures in front of her. One was smaller than the other, but they both looked really similar. The smaller one reached out to her, chirping loudly as he did so. The larger one stepped protectively in front of him, and Centi hissed at them for getting close. “Careful, **Steven**. She needs time to adjust from being partially healed.” There was something about the bigger one that was… familiar. Centi couldn’t place it._

_The partially corrupted gem stepped forward, looking the bigger one up and down. He reminded her of herself. He had_ _familiar_ _marks on his face, and she felt a form of kinship from the creature. Kindred must be like her! Centi turned her attention to Kindred’s packmate. He was also familiar to her, but she didn’t know why. Little One stepped out from behind Kindred and approached her carefully. She smiled this time, knowing that neither creature was going to hurt her. “Hi, **Centi**. Do you **remember me**?” Little one pointed at himself. Centi tilted her head in confusion. “Guess not. Did **she forget you** when you did this?” _

Kindred smiled sadly at Little One. “Yeah, she did. It took her a little bit to recognize me. I think it was the jingle for chaaps that made **her remember**? It’s been a while.” Little One picked up the crinkly bag and opened it.

“ ** _I love chips._** _”_ Centi perked up. She knew that song! “ ** _Chips, chips, chips!_** _”_ The partially corrupted gem cawed out the melody alongside him. Little One and Kindred smiled at her. “She remembers the **song**!” He ran up to her and hugged her. Centi smiled, placing her claw on his head. She did remember him. He was her Little One, that she protected from the falling rocks. Centi had missed him. “I’m so **happy** you’re back, Centi! Oh, I guess **Centi** isn’t actually your **name**. What is your **name**?”

Centi tried to call out her name. She was Nephrite. She was Centi. But Little One frowned when he couldn’t understand her. “ **Nephrite. Her name is Nephrite.** ” Kindred knew her name! Centi crowed happily, pulling Kindred and Little One into a big hug. so she could point to the chaaps. The smell had been taunting her, and she really wanted them. They laughed as Little One handed over the bag. She excitedly dug in. They were as good as she remembered them being.

“I guess I **won’t** be **calling you** **Centi** anymore.” She froze mid-bite. But she liked the name Centi? Little One jumped when she angrily screeched at him. “ **Nephrite? What’s wrong?”** She shook her head.

“ **She doesn’t want you to stop.”** She smiled at Kindred. Good. That was the name her Little One gave her. There was no way she would give it up. Kindred stepped forward and patted her shoulder. **“Even after she was healed, she went by Centi. Always liked the name.”** Little One smiled and grabbed her hand.

“ **Okay!** Then I’ll still **call you Centi! I’m glad you like it!”** Little One started pulling her to the door. “Come on! We gotta introduce you to the **gems**!” Centi frowned. She liked him and Kindred, but she wasn’t so sure about the other non-corrupted. It was too late to object, though, as Little One led her into the house. Centi looked around. The cave itself was pretty, but she was really interested in the house. The colors were very warm, and she felt comfortable for being in an unknown place. Little One guided her over to the soft chair, which felt so nice. “I guess they **left already. Oh well.** What should we do now?” Kindred looked over at her. He looked upset, so she cawed out softly in concern. He shook his head.

“ **Sorry, Centi. I know you’re going to** change soon. I just… **I want you to enjoy something from earth before you do.”** Little One whipped around to face Kindred.

“What do you mean **soon?** I thought we’d get more **time with her**?” Little One stared at her brokenly when Kindred shook his head.

“In my time, **she stays like this** long enough to **explain her story** , and then she began reverting. I **don’t want to make her remember that**. It’s painful for her. I’d like her to **enjoy this moment** a little before she reverts **back to her corrupted state**.” Kindred knew her really well. Centi wondered how he knew everything about her. Was Kindred a gem like her? So then, she didn’t escape either? Kindred had somehow managed to survive the attack. Well, if she wanted her to be happy, then she knew something that could help. Centi enjoyed being around her Little One and Kindred, but she wanted to be with her crew. She looked around and saw a sheet of paper and some color sticks on the floor. The partially corrupted gem set the items on the table and began drawing. Little One watched her curiously as she drew her ship and her other friends. Kindred gave her a knowing smile. “Oh, **you want to see your friends?”** Centi nodded happily. Kindred was the best! She chirped her approval to Kindred while Little One looked at her picture.

“Do you know **where they are?”** Little One pointed to her friends. Centi nodded and ran over to the warp pad. She wanted to stay with her friends, but she was worried about her crew. She needed to see them. She needed to be with them again. Kindred grabbed something from the wood storage, and then the two met her at the warp. She pressed her hands to the pad, but it didn’t work. She screeched and pressed it again. “It **won’t work because you’re corrupted.”** Centi turned to Little One in surprise. But if she couldn’t activate the warp, they wouldn’t be able to get to the ship.

“ **I know** **where the ship is.** ” Kindred herded Little One onto the warp pad. Relief flowed through Centi when Kindred activated the warp, and they appeared in the forest. She recognized the path and took off running. She felt an uncomfortable buzzing in her body, and she knew she didn’t have much time left. Centi almost cried when they finally arrived at the ship. It was covered in vines. Kindred immediately went up to the ship and started ripping the vines off. Little One ran up to the door and did the same. Centi chirped in appreciation as they uncovered the entrance in seconds. “ **Are you ready?”** The partially corrupted gem nodded. Kindred placed her palm on the hand pad, and the door opened. Little One and Kindred followed Centi inside. The partially corrupted gem looked around and called out to her crew when she saw them on the ceiling of the ship.

“ **This is Centi’s crew. They stayed behind because they were worried about her.”** Little One made a soft sound at Kindred’s explanation. Centi didn’t catch her reply, though. She was too focused on being reunited with her friends. The other two centipeetles looked at her in confusion before screeching happily. They crawled towards her. Centi could tell that they were worried about her and so happy to see her again. The feeling was returned. She gestured to Kindred and Little One, introducing them as some friends that helped her. She grinned when her crew surrounded Kindred and Little One. They laughed as the centipeetles nuzzled them.

Suddenly, the buzzing in her body got louder. Her arm glowed, and she shrieked when it began thinning out into a leg. Her friends flinched and turned to her. Little One called out to her, but Kindred held him back. **“I’m sorry we couldn’t heal you fully!”** Centi collapsed to her knees and looked up at Kindred. She was crying. **“I promise you that we’ll heal you soon! You and every corrupted gem we can find.”** Little One sniffled, and Centi flashed them a smile. She hoped they really could.

In a flash of light, Centi looked down at Kindred and Little One. She towered over them, but not in a menacing way. She was just bigger than them. Centi lowered her head and cheerfully nudged her smallest pack members. They were sad, but she wasn’t sure why. She didn’t know how to help them. “How much longer before we can cure the corrupted gems?” Centi wasn’t sure what the noises her Little One was making meant, but Kindred seemed to know.

“About a year. One year, **Steven** , and we can heal what the Diamonds did.” Centi turned to her two larger packmates, White Fur and Sharp Claw, and cawed at them. They crawled over and curled up beside her on the ground. She knew her smallest pack members would be leaving soon, but she wanted them to stay just a little longer. Kindred reached a hand out to her, and she nudged it happily. “I think she wants us to **stay** a little longer.”

“How can you tell?” Little One sat down and leaned against White Fur while Kindred sat in front of her and Sharp Claw. Kindred held her gaze for a moment before facing Little One again.

“I think it’s because of my own corruption. There’s something inside me that understands her. I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s like… a voice… or a **song** that I can hear faintly in my mind.” The three centipeetles perked up. Kindred looked around at them in surprise, then huffed. “Really? You guys want to hear a **song**?” Centi crowed loudly at that.

Yes. She did want this ‘song.’ Her instincts told her that this was important. White Fur and Sharp Claw chirped in encouragement. Even Little One chirped loudly at him. Kindred huffed and got up. “Alright, but I’m gonna need my guitar. **Steven** , do you want to **stay here** or come with?” Little One giggles as White Fur nuzzled him again.

“I’ll **stay** here. Hurry back! I wanna hear you **sing** too!” Kindred shook her head fondly and left. Little One soaked up the attention that Centi and her pack mates gave him. When Kindred returned, several minutes later, she sat down and sang for them.

Centi and her pack relaxed in the old shop for a while before Kindred and Little One eventually got up to leave. “We’ll come **back** and visit. I **promise.** ” The corrupted gem watched Kindred wave her paw at her before the door closed. Although she would miss them, Centi knew they would come back. Their pack always stayed together.


	3. The Family Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven was bursting with excitement! Today was the big day! They were finally going to have a family dinner with the Maheswarans! Now if they could just manage to leave on time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for MandyKun, who wanted a chapter where Twoie had the best day ever (due to the last chapter). I figured a great way to have a fun chapter where everything goes right, would be the family dinner that Priyanka mentioned having in Templeschool! This chapter has a couple of references to Templeschool, but it's not necessary to remember to still enjoy this chapter.
> 
> I might also make a basic reference sheet for the house layers with the refurbishment. Nothing extreme, I'm not good at drawing. It'd be like a very basic layout of what the floors look like.

Steven could barely contain his excitement. He grabbed his favorite hoodie, the pink one that Connie and Mom had gotten him for his birthday, and pulled it over his head. “Come on, Twoie, Dad! We’re going to be late!” The kid ran to the tiny nook that initially only lead to the bathroom. Now, it had a small staircase that led to the basement. After dashing down the stairs, Steven knocked on the door at the bottom of the stairs before opening it. “Are you guys ready?” Twoie looked up from the couch in their dad’s room. His older brother smiled and gestured for Steven to join him. Steven sat down beside him with a confused frown.

“I’m ready, Sunshine, but Dad is a different story.” Twoie tried to contain his laughter as he pointed at their father. Greg was pacing back and forth in front of his closet, holding two shirts in each hand while several other shirts were strewn about the floor.

“They’ve seen me in the cherry sweater before, but this is important. I should wear something nicer. Should I wear the tux? No, too formal. Maybe a Hawaiian shirt? Nah, too casual. I can’t go in my work clothes. Why don’t I own any button-downs?” Steven and Twoie snickered at their dad’s monologue. It seemed he was worried about the family dinner that the Maheswarans had invited them to. Finally deciding to help, Twoie walked over to the closet and dug through it.

“Here, Dad.” He pulled out Greg’s solid black t-shirt and tossed it to him. “This’ll be fine.” Greg smiled appreciatively at his eldest and pulled it on.

“Thanks, Two-ball.” Steven grinned and ran over to them. Twoie and Greg chuckled as Steven grabbed them by the hands and tugged them towards the door.

“Come on! We’re going to be late!” Steven burst outside, running for the van, while Greg grabbed his keys. The two eldest Universes made their way to the van, and everyone hopped in.

It didn’t take them long to drive to the Maheswarans’ house, and Steven could barely contain his excitement when they pulled up to the curb. Steven dashed to the door, dragging Twoie behind him. “Steven! They’re not gonna disappear if we’re a second late.” Greg called out from behind them while following along at a slower pace. Steven couldn’t help it, though. This was their first family dinner with the whole family! Steven knew that Twoie was just as excited as he was, even though he didn’t show it. He saw the stars in his older brother’s eyes when they arrived.

“I know, I’m just super excited! I’ve been waiting for this all week!” Twoie huffed fondly at Steven as he rang the doorbell. Steven spun on his heel and waited with starry eyes as he heard footsteps. This was it! The door opened, and Connie grinned at them as she invited them in.

“I’m so glad you guys are here! Dinner’s almost ready, and Mom was starting to worry that you guys would be late.” They all walked into the kitchen, where Priyanka and Doug were working together on preparing the dinner. At the sight of Twoie and Steven, Priyanka smiled and hugged them.

“It’s so good to see you, boys!” Steven blushed in slight embarrassment as Dr. Maheswaran knelt and checked him over. “Connie told me all about the incident with that gem hunt, and I was worried. I almost drove to your house just to check on you two.” After a quick check over, she turned to Twoie. “Thank goodness it turned out alright. You mentioned that Jasper managed to escape?” Twoie blushed lightly as Dr. Maheswaran fussed over him as well. Neither of them were used to anyone besides Pearl fussing over them. It was really nice.

“Mom. They’re okay, I promise.” Connie giggled as her mom finally stopped, satisfied that both boys were okay. Priyanka huffed fondly at her.

“Well, I just wanted to be sure. Didn’t you want to show Steven that new book you got yesterday?” Connie’s eyes lit up, and she grabbed Steven by the hand. They ran off to Connie’s room, with Connie rambling about her book the whole way. Twoie and Greg laughed at how quickly Connie had left.

“Wow. She’s gotten more outspoken ever since the hospital.” Twoie was glad that Connie was more comfortable around her family. It took his Connie a lot longer to be that easy-going with her family. Priyanka turned her focus to the food on the stove again.

“Yes, and I have you to thank for that. Now, why don’t you tell me about the renovations of the beach house? The rest of the changes are being built today, right?” Twoie smiled and started chatting about the new house design. Priyanka smiled fondly when Twoie started cutting ingredients as they talked.

While they continued making dinner, Greg followed Doug into the dining room. “I’m sorry we haven’t been able to meet up before now.” Doug smiled as he showed Greg a chair. “Do you want a drink? We’ve got coffee, tea, water?” Greg let out a relieved sigh.

“Actually, coffee sounds great right now.” Doug smiled as he grabbed a full pot of coffee and poured two cups. They sat down at the table together. “I was so nervous about coming here.” Greg rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “Not for my sons, I know Twoie and Steven get along great with Priyanka and Connie. I just want to make sure I don’t mess this up for them.” Greg sighed as he stared into his cup. The older man already knew of Twoie’s and Steven’s thoughts about Dr. Maheswaran. And the last thing he wanted to do was prevent them from having a mother-figure in their lives.

“Well, now, from one father to another, I’m a bit nervous too.” Doug chuckled as he stirred some cream in his coffee. He smiled fondly at Twoie and his wife, working together on some samosas. Priyanka had taken a step away from the food and was coaching Twoie on how to prepare it. “I’ve heard so much about your sons from Priyanka and Connie. I’m surprised it’s taken me so long to finally meet them!” Greg chuckled, and they both took a drink of their coffee. “I think you guys were what we really needed to loosen up.”

“And your wife was what I really needed to be stricter. I’ve learned a lot from her, and I’ll probably learn more from you too.” Greg gestured to the other man. “You have such a wonderful family. I think I’m starting to understand why this was something that Twoie and Steven really wanted.” Doug laughed into his hand.

“Well, they’ve all been bonding for a while now. You know what?” Doug leaned over the table and smirked at him. “One day, I’ll head down to your car wash as ‘security detail,’ and we can just spend the whole day chatting about whatever.” He leaned back with an excited expression. “And maybe we can go fishing! We can bring the rest of the family and make a day out of it.” The two laughed again and plotted ideas for other family get-togethers. Eventually, dinner was ready. Twoie called out for Steven and Connie from the bottom of the stairs, and they came racing down. Everyone helped bring the food to the table and dug in once all of the plates were set. While they were eating, Twoie was struck with how similar the night was to his dream so long ago. And as the rest of his family planned a fishing trip with a picnic, Twoie couldn’t keep the warm smile off of his face. Their little family had grown.

Hours later, the group had cleaned up from dinner and were chatting in the living room. It was late, so the Universes decided it was time to head out. “Bring the gems with you next time, alright?” Priyanka pulled her boys into a hug, and the brothers nodded.

“They didn’t come today because of the renovations, but they’ll come next time for sure!” Steven smiled when Connie hugged them both goodbye as well.

“It was wonderful to finally get the chance to meet you two. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to let us know.” Doug ruffled their hair. He nudged Greg on the side with his elbow. “And remember what I said about security detail.” Priyanka rolled her eyes fondly at her husband's antics.

“Goodnight, mom! I’ll see you on Sunday at that new café!” Twoie froze for a second but sighed in relief when Priyanka pulled him into another hug. Connie, Doug, and Greg grinned widely as Steven joined the hug.

“Goodnight, mom! Is it okay if I come with you guys this time?” Their mom chuckled softly. It wasn’t often that Steven wanted to come to their café hang-outs. She had a feeling it was due to her newest title.

“Of course! You and Connie have always been invited to join us on Sunday. The invite goes for all of you as well.” She sent a sly smirk to Greg and Doug. Priyanka had a feeling that their coffee days were about to have more family joining in.


	4. No Matter What

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day started off great. Although sword training was canceled due to the search for Jasper, Steven and Connie got to spend the day with Twoie and Amethyst. What was supposed to be a fun evening at the beach, ends up ruined when Jasper appears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! I've got a couple of notes for you guys today! First off, I want to give the BIGGEST thank you to my friend Dimonds456. They proofread this chapter for me and it really helped! You can thank them for this chapter coming out today because I'm finally happy with it.
> 
> Second, I'd like to give a thank you to: EatBearsblog, RoxasTsuna_TMNT, Dimonds456, for requesting a chapter for Crack The Whip. 
> 
> For anyone who doesn't know about Expressive Writing, it's a technique recommended by psychologists for addressing stressors and triggers in your life. You write for about 15-20 minutes every day, and it can be about everything or nothing. If you have a hard time writing something, you can make doodles, or lines, or just repeat what you've already written. The point is to give yourself the ability to think and just get your feelings out. To be true to form, I timed myself writing Steven's journal entry for 15 minutes and spaced out. I made no grammar or structure changes to the journal because it isn't necessary in this technique. You are encouraged to write without paying much attention to grammar/writing rules since the point is self-expression. I hope this is informative for anyone that likes to write, or just wants a good way to get stress out. I did actually feel a little better after writing that chapter. Felt more focused.
> 
> Last, but not least, art! I'd like to thank @spacetraintothecosmos on [ Tumblr ](https://spacetraintothecosmos.tumblr.com/post/629359507960725504/just-a-steven-universe-time-travel-drawing) for their artwork of Twoie and Steven facing White Diamond in Change Your Mind. TW Blood and Injury, okay guys?
> 
> Also, for anyone curious about the new layout of the beach house, please check out my [ basic layout ](https://shadow-light19.tumblr.com/post/628667042596372480/hello-for-anyone-who-was-curious-about-the-new) of each room.

_Xx/xx/xx_

_I’m never really sure how to start these expressive writing prompts, but my therapist has told me that I’m doing it right. I really like her. She’s so nice to me and she never acts like I’m bothering her. The gems have gotten much better at listening to me when I ask them a question and that means a lot to me. I never would’ve gotten to this point without my big brother._ _We renovated the house a couple of days ago and we finally finished today. I like that I have more privacy now. I never minded that my room could be seen from the living room but it’s like having a place that’s just for me. When the gems made me upset I never had a place for myself. They always had their rooms and now I have mine._ _To be honest, I kinda don’t like my room too. I got used to sharing a room with Starbright. I feel a little lonely when I go to bed now and Twoie is upstairs. I’ve never had family that I was that close with besides dad, and we stopped sleeping together years ago. I miss Twoie. It was like having a sleepover all of the time. I always feel safe knowing Twoie is with me. It doesn’t matter that he’s still in the house._ _Sometimes I wake up by myself and think that he went home. That he left and I’ll never see him again. I’m scared of him going home. I’m so happy that he decided to stay but I know that he will have to go eventually. I wish that there was some way for me to keep in touch with him when he eventually leaves._

_The situation with Jasper is getting worse. Twoie has been telling us about what to expect with Jasper, and I’m worried. She’s going to end up corrupting herself and I really hope that won’t happen this time around. I know that I don’t have to fix mom’s mistakes. I’m not doing this because of mom or because of the gems anymore. I’m doing this because the way the diamonds treat gems is wrong. I love my friends Lapis, Peridot, and Bismuth. If it weren’t for mom and the rebellion, I wouldn’t have the gems either. I want to help them. So I’m doing this for me and for Twoie. I know Twoie is scared. He’s getting better when it comes to asking for help and talking about his feelings. He knows we are willing to help him. I still worry about him, though, because I know these feelings don’t go away easily. I still hesitate to talk to the gems when something bothers me because I worry they are going to brush me off again. I’ve gotten more confident though and I am doing my best to speak up._

_Mom has been telling me that I am doing a good job when it comes to my mental health. I like to talk with her sometimes about therapy when I visit Connie. She likes knowing some of the techniques, and she has Connie in therapy too. I’ve been getting along with Mr. Doug as well. He’s really funny. I like him. I think Twoie really likes him too. We’ve been talking about doing more family things and the gems are invited. I think we’ll have a picnic next at the barn. Dad’s promised he would contact Uncle Andy and try to get us to meet up as well. I really like having a big family! I can’t believe I’ve gone so long without them._

_My whole world has changed with Twoie’s arrival. I think this is the happiest I’ve ever been. I know that things are going to get harder from here, but I’m ready for it! We’ll stop Jasper and the Diamonds! We’ll end this war! And then we’ll help all of the corrupted gems. I’ll get to see Centi and her friends again. Twoie told me that he can understand the corrupted gems because of his own corruption. He said that Centi’s friends are called White Fur and Sharp Claw. I wonder if they’ll keep those names when they’re healed? If they don’t like them, we’ll find new names that they’ll like better. Twoie and I need to visit them again soon. I’m happy that they aren’t lonely anymore, but I bet they get bored. Maybe I’ll talk to Bismuth about making them an acid-proof ball so they have something to play with if they get bored. Maybe we could play together when we visit! We could make up a game!_

_I guess my time’s up. I know I say this after every entry, but I like writing like this. It really helps me feel better. Bye journal! I know I keep saying this, too, but I’ll come up with a better name for you soon. I think you deserve a really cool name because you really help me._

Steven gently closed the cover of his composition book. He smiled at the doodles he made on the white cover. There were little doodles of Lion, Twoie, his family, and some Crying Breakfast Friends characters. The kid tucked the book into the drawer of his desk and stood up. It was almost time for Connie’s sword training, and he wanted to join in. Twoie was at his therapy appointment, so it was just him at the house. Steven hummed as he trotted downstairs with his cheeseburger backpack. He packed a couple of water bottles and snacks while waiting for the gems to get back. The kid had just finished packing for the training when the warp activated. 

Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet appeared on the warp pad with worried expressions. Steven’s good mood deflated a little when he saw them. “No luck?”

Pearl sighed with a hand on her head as the three gems stepped off the warp. “None. We’ve been searching the north all morning.” She smiled softly at Steven. “How have you been? We just stopped by to check on you before we headed back out to search some more.”

Steven blinked in surprise. “Doesn’t Connie have sword training today? I wanted to join you two.” 

Pearl gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. “Oh my stars, I completely forgot!” She bit her lip. “I’m so sorry, Steven. But looking for Jasper takes priority at the moment. I’ll have to apologize to Connie as well when she arrives.” 

Garnet hummed in thought before turning to Amethyst. “Amethyst, why don’t you stay here with Steven and Connie? Pearl and I will continue searching the north to see if we can catch Jasper before she arrives at the beach.” 

Amethyst nodded in agreement. She nonchalantly tucked her arms behind her head as she stepped off the warp pad and stood by Steven. 

Suddenly, the front door burst open. Everyone looked behind them to see Connie and Lion smiling as they rushed into the room. “Surprise! I’m here early!” Connie looked around the room in awe. “I know Steven said you all renovated the house, and I couldn’t help my excitement. The house looks so cool! Much bigger than before!” Steven chuckled at the wonder in her voice. He knew the front room didn’t look much different, but the outside did look neat. The house looked a lot bigger now. 

“I’m so sorry, Connie, but I’m going to have to cancel today’s training. I should’ve called you, so you didn’t have to come all the way here.” Pearl knew she would be forgiven, but it still didn’t make her happy to have to blow her student off. She was trying to make sure she was better with both Steven and Connie. Forgetting about training felt like she was disrespecting Connie’s time. 

“It’s fine, Pearl! Is this about Jasper?” Pearl smiled lightly at the understanding in Connie’s voice.

“Yes. We’re trying to find Jasper before she makes her way to Beach City. A lot has changed, so we’re hoping we can stop her before she gets here. Or at least before she finds the other corrupted gems.” Pearl sighed at the thought of Jasper trying to control the poor corrupted quartzes. 

Garnet smiled as she placed a hand on her hip. “You guys should enjoy yourselves today. You’ve earned a good break.” She turned to Steven. “Why don’t you give her a tour of the house? By the time you three are done, Twoie’s appointment will be over.” Garnet’s smile became a smirk. “I left some money on his desk this morning so that you guys could go get something from town.” 

Amethyst and the kids grinned at the idea of getting donuts in town. Content that the group would spend the day relaxing, Garnet and Pearl waved goodbye as they disappeared back into the warp stream. 

Amethyst stretched and laid down on the couch. “You guys go explore the house while I take a quick nap. Come get me when you’re done, kay?” Steven and Connie nodded, holding in their laughs when Lion laid on the floor next to Amethyst. The kids headed upstairs into Steven’s room. 

“This is my room! It looks mostly the same, except I’ve got a desk now, and it looks more like a room.” Steven jumped onto his bed with a giggle. Connie looked around excitedly. It certainly looked more like a room than it used to, and she loved how happy Steven seemed with the change. After another moment of looking around, Steven led her up the stairs by his bed, leading to Twoie’s room. Upon entering Twoie’s bedroom, Connie was surprised to see how similar it looked to Steven’s room. In fact, they were the same, except everything was flipped to the opposite side. The only difference was the balcony. Steven ran over to the sliding door, pushing it open. “Twoie’s room has a balcony that leads to the observatory. Come on!” 

Connie grinned as she rushed up the stairs. Steven threw open the door to the observatory, and the young girl was in awe. The design was based mainly on Twoie’s sketch of the building in his time. There was a multitude of flora spread throughout the room. Most were in the stages of sprouting, but a couple of plants had already bloomed. She gently touched the petals of a pretty daisy in wonder. 

Steven felt a sense of pride at the starstruck look in his friend’s eyes. Twoie had outdone himself with the arrangement. The kid still remembered the stars in Twoie’s eyes as he talked about the plants he had grown in his other time. He walked over to the giant telescope in the middle of the room. The observatory also functioned as a watchtower for Homeworld ships, but Steven couldn’t wait to use the room for a sleepover. It’d be a cool way to have a fun camp night! At the light tap on his shoulder, Steven realized Connie was beside him. He moved so that she could look through the telescope as well, and he listened as she rambled about the stars and planets she could see.

When the two were done, they headed back to the living room to meet up with Amethyst. The gem was still snoozing in the living room, so they had to shake her shoulder to wake her. “Huh? You guys done?” Amethyst yawned and stretched. She looked over the kids as they nodded. “Sounds good! Let’s go get Twoie and get some donuts!” Amethyst raised her hands in a cheer. Steven and Connie grinned, dashing out of the house with cheers. 

It didn’t take them long to arrive in town. The group made their way over to the therapist's office on the edge of town. When they arrived, Twoie was already standing outside, waiting for them. The young man visibly brightened as the two kids ran over and hugged him. “Hey, you guys! What a nice surprise!” Twoie ruffled them on the head while smiling at Amethyst. 

The purple gem smirked and punched him lightly on the arm. “Yeah, right. You knew we were coming.” 

Twoie snorted. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small stack of bills—Steven and Connie oo’ed in wonder. “Garnet left a note saying that we should have fun today. I figured she’d either tell you about it, or I would just call you after my appointment, and we could meet in town.” The group started walking towards the Big Donut. “Are Pearl and Garnet still looking for Jasper?”

Steven hummed in confirmation. He asked quietly, “Do you think they’ll catch her?” Connie looked at Twoie inquisitively. 

Twoie sighed and looked at the beach in worry. “I think it’s been too long.” 

Amethyst looked at him warily. If that was true, then Pearl and Garnet were just wasting their time. They’d be better off sticking around Beach City and waiting for Jasper to show. “Well, we’ll deal with her when she shows her face.” Amethyst lifted her hands behind her head. She lazily looked over at the others, smiling when she saw they looked happier at her words. “Now, let’s get some donuts! I’m starving!”

The rest of the afternoon was spent goofing around. After buying most of the Big Donut’s donuts, the group hung out at the boardwalk. Then, they spent the rest of the evening playing in the ocean. Steven and Connie splashed in the ocean for a while before becoming judges for Twoie’s and Amethyst’s surf competition. Twoie’s shield wasn’t the greatest surfboard, but it worked well enough to pull off several tricks. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun in one day.” Connie laughed as Twoie wiped out on a wave. Amethyst immediately guffawed at the look on his face when he resurfaced. Steven and Connie snorted when Twoie glared and pulled Amethyst off her board. 

“Yeah! I’ve never seen Amethyst or Twoie this happy either.” Steven smiled fondly as he watched Amethyst and Twoie laugh together. “I actually feel like we’re a family.” The kid grinned and splashed Connie. She looked affronted at the surprise attack. “As my best friend, you’re part of the family too!” 

“Well then, if we’re family, then I guess you won’t mind me doing this!” Connie raised both arms in the air and both them down on the water. Steven shrieked as he got splashed by a big wave of water. Just as the two began a game of splashing each other, the water began to rumble. Steven and Connie paused in surprise, looking around to find the cause of the strange sensation. Twoie’s eyes widened, and he quickly summoned one of his pink panels. He shoved Connie and Steven to the side with his power, just as an orange corrupted quartz burst from the water where they had been playing. 

“Steven! Connie!” Amethyst swam over to the two quickly while Twoie swam to shore. He could feel the beast’s emotions. The young man recalled something similar when he was with Centi. It gave him an idea.

“Hey, Biggs.” Twoie held his hands out in a placating manner. The gem growled at him, baring it’s dripping fangs at the movement. “Let’s just calm down. Okay?” The beast roared, making Twoie flinch. Steven, Connie, and Amethyst watched in awe as Twoie glared at the gem. “Calm down.” He stepped forward, calming his expression. “I know you’re confused. I know you’re scared. I can help you, but you can’t attack us.” The corrupted gem stepped back. She sniffed the air before lowering her hackles. Twoie smiled in relief as the gem let him approach her. He placed a hand on her snout. “I promise that we’ll be able to cure you soon, but I need to bubble you so you’ll be safe. Will you let me bubble you?” The corrupted quartz laid down, snuffling softly. Twoie smiled sadly as he summoned his shield and prepped it for a clean hit. She’d feel no pain. “I’m sorry, Biggs.” 

Steven and Connie closed their eyes, flinching at the sound of the gem poofing. Amethyst looked away. They knew it had to be done, but knowing that Twoie had calmed her made the action feel almost like a betrayal. “Steven? Amethyst?” Twoie was holding the corrupted gem reverently in his hands as the rest of the group looked at him. He never took his eyes off of the gem. “I need one of you guys to bubble her. Jasper will be here any second, and I don’t want Biggs to fall into her hands.” 

Amethyst, Connie, and Steven walked up to him. Twoie gently handed the quartz over to Steven, who bubbled her and sent her to the temple. “You knew her?” Connie asked quietly. 

Twoie sighed. “Yeah.” He didn’t comment any further. Instead, he turned back to the ocean, another shield appearing on his arm. “Connie, Steven, and Lion. You guys will handle the other corrupted quartz.” The two kids nodded. Lion chuffed and moved into an offensive stance. Amethyst summoned her whip from her gem and stood beside Twoie. “Amethyst, you and I will deal with Jasper.” 

Seconds after Twoie gave his orders, the water rumbled again, and Jasper burst out of the ocean. She had her helmet on while she was riding the second corrupted quartz. Her gaze swept over the group on the sand, landing on Steven and Twoie. “What?” She growled as her eyes darted between the two. “Two Roses? What kind of cowardly trick is this?” Jasper snarled, jumping off the corrupted gem and landing on the shore. 

Twoie took a step forward, throwing his free hand out to protect Steven. “I don’t care which one of us you think is the real Rose Quartz. Your fight is with me, Jasper.” 

Jasper smirked at Twoie’s declaration. “I can’t believe the great Rose Quartz was dumb enough to think this would trick me. It’s easy to figure out who the real one is.” The orange gem bared her teeth in a wicked grin. “You’re the one giving out orders, and you have the build of a real quartz.” Jasper gestured to the corrupted gem beside her. “I’ve decided to build my own army. Where’s the rest of yours?” 

“They’re not here right now!” Steven called out. Amethyst shushed the kid. Even if they could take out Jasper without the others, she didn’t need to know that.

It was too late, though. Jasper laughed at them. “So, it’s just you lot? This should be entertaining!” The orange gem smacked the beast, making it charge at Steven and Connie. Twoie threw his shield at the creature, forcing it to dodge and run past them. Steven, Connie, and Lion used the moment to get their bearings. Twoie couldn’t focus on them any longer as Jasper lunged straight for him and Amethyst. They dodged to the side. Twoie summoned another shield and launched it at her while Amethyst tried to pin her in place with her whip. 

“I came here to fight Rose, not some runt.” Jasper smacked the shield to the side and grabbed the whip. Amethyst cried out as Jasper tugged her close, then kneed her in the stomach. The purple gem went flying, skidding across the sand with a pained grunt. “Stay out of our battle, you overcooked runt.” 

Twoie snarled and bubbled his fists. He charged forward only for Jasper to grin and catch his punch. “Don’t you dare call her that. She’s better than you’ll ever be!” He swung his other fist, but she caught it with her free hand. Before Jasper could taunt his attack, she was shoved away by a pink bubble that encompassed Twoie. 

Jasper grinned. “Aww, are you angry that I hurt the runt?” The fighter smashed her fist through a pink panel that was sent towards her. “That’s what happens when you allow weaklings in your army.” She smashed another panel and caught a shield that was tossed at her. The gem knew that she had pissed off Rose. She could see the anger in her eyes. “Fighting is what I was made for.” Jasper rolled into a ball and shot off towards her opponent. Twoie raised a shield but was thrown into the water due to the sheer force of Jasper’s attack. “It’s what you both were made for as well. However…” Jasper raised her arm, letting Amethyst’s whip wrap around it. Amethyst pulled it back but strained to pull Jasper back. “You’re just a half-cooked, weakling that Rose accepted out of desperation.” 

Four pink panels manifested around Jasper, forcing her hands to her side. Jasper let go of Amethyst’s whip and turned her head slightly behind her. Twoie snarled as he lunged at her. With a laugh, the fighter broke free from the panels and spun on her heel. Twoie’s eyes widened right before Jasper slammed her crash helmet into his face. 

“Twoie!” Amethyst pushed herself to her feet. Steven and Connie glanced back just in time to see Jasper bash Twoie into the sand. 

“Twoie!” The two kids cried out in horror. With a well-timed strike, Connie poofed the last corrupted quartz. Steven quickly bubbled it, and the two turned, ready to join Twoie and Amethyst in the fight against Jasper. 

‘Damnit! We’re getting our butts kicked.’ Amethyst rushed to help Twoie up but jumped back in surprise when Jasper cut her off. 

“Alright, Defect! You want to fight me so badly? Fine.” Jasper slid into a battle stance. “Your fight is with me now.” 

Amethyst narrowed her eyes in anger. She held a hand out to Steven and Connie, startling them. “You two go check on Twoie. I’ve got this.” Without watching to see if the kids listened, Amethyst jumped into the air and snapped her two whips at Jasper. Her opponent dodged her attacks, which is precisely what she was hoping for. Amethyst landed beside the taller gem and smoothly struck out at Jasper with the tipped end of her handle. Unfortunately, Jasper grabbed her wrist, preventing the whip handle from hitting her. 

“You’re not even trying,” Jasper smirked as she swung the smaller gem into a headbutt. Her crash helmet smacked solidly into Amethyst’s head. The purple gem fell back onto the sand, dazed. “You seriously thought you could fight me? Pathetic.” Jasper spin dashed over Amethyst, shoving her further into the sand. 

Several hits later, the fighter grew bored and stopped. Looking over the stunned and battered gem, she scoffed and turned back to Rose. 

During Amethyst’s battle, Steven and Connie had managed to wake Twoie up. They had just helped Twoie stand when Jasper turned her attention back to him. Steven and Connie nodded at each other and fused. Now, Twoie and Stevonnie glared Jasper down as they shifted into battle stances. 

Jasper’s eyes widened in surprise before she snarled at them. “You Crystal Gems would even fuse with a human?”

Stevonnie pointed at Jasper. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say unless it’s sorry.” Twoie and Stevonnie charged at Jasper. While Stevonnie danced around Jasper with strikes from their sword and blocks with their shield, Twoie filled in the gaps with his thorned bubbled punches. The two quickly overwhelmed Jasper, forcing her back towards the ocean. 

The orange gem looked around, realizing that her corrupted quartzes were gone, and she was unlikely to win. Jasper glared at them. “Fusion, fusion! It’s always fusion! This was just a warm-up! Get ready for next time, Rose.” The defeated gem retreated into the water until just her head was showing. “Jaspers don’t give up. Jaspers keep going until they get what they want.” Without another word, the orange gem disappeared into the ocean. 

Twoie sighed and popped his bubbles. Stevonnie grinned before unfusing into Steven and Connie. “We did it! We fought Jasper and won!” Steven and Connie cheered. The two began complimenting each other about their battle, so Twoie turned and walked over to Amethyst. The purple gem was still lying on the ground, staring at the ocean. 

“Are you okay?” Amethyst didn’t look up as Twoie knelt beside her. Her hand tightened into a fist.

“I know you’ve told me before that I’m strong. You showed me that strength isn’t the same as power.” The purple gem pushed herself into a sitting position. “So why does it still hurt?” Amethyst sighed but finally looked up at Twoie. “Why do I feel so weak and useless?”

Twoie noted that Steven and Connie had stopped talking and were watching them worriedly. The kids quietly walked over to them, with Steven wordlessly licking his hand and touching Amethyst on the shoulder. The gem gave him a shaky smile in thanks as the kids sat down next to her.

“It takes a long time for our insecurities to go away. Even when we know they’re wrong.” Twoie brushed his hands through his hair. Steven and Connie both leaned forward so they could watch Twoie as he talked. “There will always be someone out there who is better than you at something. That’s just how life works.” Amethyst wilted slightly. Twoie playfully elbowed her. “I’ll let you in on a secret. You were better at understanding the gems living on earth than I was.” 

Amethyst choked on her saliva. “What? Really?” 

Twoie laughed at how surprised Amethyst was. “Yup!” Steven and Connie leaned in more, hoping that Twoie would elaborate more about the future. “I don’t know if I’ve ever told you’ve always been like an older sister to me.” Amethyst blushed lightly. “Well, when my Amethyst became a teacher at Little Homeschool, she was kinda like a caring sister to a lot of other gems as well. She loved getting to know all of the gems, and it meant so much to her that they wanted to make earth their new home. So, she came up with this idea that she called the GHEM program.” Amethyst was awestruck at the thought of her future self. She sounded so happy and helpful. It took Amethyst forever to feel like she was contributing to the Crystal Gems. Yet, her future self was a teacher and program founder!

“What does GEM stand for?” Connie piped up.

“It stands for the Gem-Human Excellence Mentorship program.” Twoie looked over at Amethyst when the gem snorted. Amethyst blushed lightly when everyone looked at her. 

“Hate to break it to you, dude, but G-H-E-M spells Guh-Hem. Not Gem.” Twoie laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. Amethyst pouted until Twoie spoke again. 

“My mistake. You pronounced it as Guh-Hem in my time as well.” Connie stopped herself from interjecting that Twoie was correct when she saw the pride in Amethyst’s eyes. “The GHEM project paired gems that wanted to live on earth with humans who had job positions open or could teach gems the skills they wanted to learn.” Twoie gestured to Amethyst. “You held a meeting with every gem that applied to find out what their interests were. Then you paired them with a human that matched those interests. Gems were really happy, and you did an amazing job running it. You even helped me understand the gems better.” 

Amethyst smiled brightly. That sounded amazing. She could hardly believe that was something she came up with. But Twoie never lied to her about things like this. It didn’t matter if she wasn’t as good of a fighter as Jasper. It didn’t matter if that was what she was made for. Amethyst was happy with the way things were and what she could expect herself to be in the future. “Thanks, Twoie. I needed to hear that.” Amethyst sighed. “I’m guessing I’ll still feel like this from time to time, though.” Would it be okay to talk to Steven or Twoie about it? She didn’t want to put her problems on them since they deal with so much already, but she trusted them the most. They always made her feel better when she was feeling down. “Could- is it okay if I come to you-. I mean, I don’t want to put more issues on your plate, but-.” 

Twoie smiled. He knew how hard it could be to ask for help, to bottle everything inside because you feel like a burden for asking. He’s never repeated a song before, but this Amethyst has never heard it, so it technically wasn’t repeating, was it? Twoie stood up, staring forward at the setting sun and the calm ocean waves. _“In the light of the day, in the dark of the night.”_ Amethyst looked surprised as Twoie turned to her. He slid into a battle stance. _“When you’re raring to go.”_ The young man then slumped his shoulders. _“When you’re tired from the fight.”_ Steven laughed as Twoie mimicked the actions he was singing. _“When you’re losing your mind, let me give you a thought.”_ Twoie held his hand out to Amethyst. _“I’m gonna be right by your side, no matter what.”_ The purple gem smiled and grasped his hand. Twoie helped her stand, and the kids jumped up in excitement. 

Twoie noticed the excited look on Steven’s face and chuckled. He tap-danced a couple of easy steps on the sand. Then, Twoie watched as Steven analyzed the moves he made and copied them, much to his delight. The older brother gestured for Steven to continue. _“In the dark of the night, in the light of the day.”_ Steven sang as he did the next couple of steps and Twoie copied him. _“When you’re rising to shine. When you’re hitting the hay.”_

Amethyst and Connie shared a look before laughing at the brothers. _“We’ll be hanging around if you like it or not.”_ The brothers flashed a cheeky grin as they surrounded Amethyst on both sides _. “We’re gonna be right by your side, no matter what!”_

Amethyst snorted and brushed them away, causing Steven to pout dramatically. Connie couldn’t hold her laughs any longer and broke into a guffaw while Twoie playfully rolled his eyes. Steven leaned against Amethyst. _“Oh, we’re gonna be, right by your side.”_ The young kid yelped when Twoie plucked him off the ground and into a piggyback. _“We’re gonna be right by your side, no matter what!”_

The group began their walk back home. Dr. Maheswaran would be at their house soon to pick up Connie, and they didn’t want to keep her waiting. Twoie set Steven down on the ground again when they were almost home. The two brothers took hold of Amethyst’s hands as they walked. Amethyst looked at Twoie and then at Steven. Both boys were smiling, and she felt like she could do anything with them supporting her. Twoie hummed lightly. _“Through whoever you’ve been.”_ The purple gem startled and looked back up at Twoie. Her past self had hurt Twoie and Steven a lot. _“Through whoever you’ll be.”_ Guess that didn’t matter to him. She knew Twoie had forgiven her, but it still surprised her a little when he said it. 

_“Through whatever you face, you will always have me.”_ Twoie and Steven gave her a side hug as they sang together. _“At the end of your rope, we’ll be holding it taut. We’re gonna be right by your side, no matter what.”_ Amethyst was touched. Twoie and Steven were the best. She wiped a small tear away from her eye. _“We’ll be right by your side. Be right by your side.”_ The two brothers stepped in front of Amethyst, with Twoie placing a hand around Steven’s shoulders _. “We’ll be right by your side, no matter what.”_

Amethyst rubbed her eyes with her hands. “You guys…” She gave them the biggest smile she could muster. “You guys are the best!”

Steven held his hand out. “That’s because we have the best older sister!” The purple gem felt tears start to well in her eyes again. Amethyst placed her hand in his for a second, then pulled him into a hug. Light burst from the two of them and Twoie’s eyes widened when he saw Smoky Quartz standing in front of him. 

“Whoa, this is really cool! Did Amethyst and Steven do this?” Smoky hummed in thought as they looked at themself. 

Connie squealed happily as she took in this new gem. “You guys! You guys fused! Who are you now?” Smoky blinked at Connie. Fusion? 

“I guess we did? I mean, I know I’m an Amethyst and a Diamond, but I still feel more like a Rose Quartz than a diamond…” The fusion snapped their fingers in joy. “I guess that means I’m Smoky Quartz! Nice to meet you, Connie!” 

Connie shook Smoky’s hand, then rounded on Twoie. “Twoie! Did you know they could fuse? Why didn’t you say anything?” Twoie rubbed the back of his neck as he turned to Connie. “Well, fusion occurs through having a strong bond, I didn’t want to take the surprise out of Steven’s first fusion with the gems, and I didn’t want to force it either by saying something. My first time fusing with Amethyst was very emotional.” 

“So then, you and Steven can fuse with Garnet and Pearl too?” Smoky questioned while gesturing to themself. At Twoie’s nod, they whooped loudly. 

“What’s going on out there?!” They all turned to stare at Pearl, who had just run out onto the porch. Everything was quiet as Garnet walked out of the house and stood beside her. Pearl’s gaze flickered from Twoie to Connie to Smoky. Smoky laughed at the dumbfounded expression on both gems. They decided to take pity on them and greeted them with an exaggerated bow.

“Yo, Pearl, Garnet! I’m Smoky Quartz, fusion of Steven and Amethyst. Nice to meet ya!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so a couple of things to address after the fact! First, Smoky! Thank you Roxas for our conversation about Twoie and the topic of fusion. For everyone else, we were talking about when Smoky would occur, and whether Twoie would fuse or Steven. I've come to the idea that Twoie would be uncomfortable with fusing because he's still dealing with everything that the gems have put him through. Besides that, Twoie would also rather have Steven go fuse with the gems first, as it's an important part of Steven's bond with his family. I feel Twoie also has a little mixed feelings with fusion because, in recency, he's only fused out of necessity (Steg during the injector crisis, Smoky during the problems he caused with the GHEM project, and everything regarding A Very Special Episode). The strain of these fusions has probably affected him mentally, which I believe would make him more uncomfortable with the idea of fusing. He may fuse with the gems later, but it won't be for a while.
> 
> Okay, now for the part with the corrupted gem beast! One of the things I've always thought is that Twoie could probably manifest the pink fractals at a distance, compared to his shield. It takes a lot more energy to do that, but he's shown that he can push them away from himself, and when he made the panel in Little Graduation, it manifested in front of Lars, who was several feet in front of Steven. With enough concentration, he should be able to direct where the panel manifests.
> 
> Finally, I wanted to include this moment in the chapter, but couldn't find a good place for it. If you're wondering what Steven named his journal, XD he named it Journal. Because nothing is better than being who you are. It just seemed like a very 'Steven' thing to do, and this whole chapter is about accepting yourself, the good and the bad.
> 
> Sorry, this chapter took so long, (I spent a week writing it. T^T) but I hope you all enjoy!


	5. The Frustrations of a Hypocrite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie knew it was wrong, but it was something he had to do. He had to get stronger. He had to be strong enough to beat Jasper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm so sorry that it has taken so long for me to update! My schedule was crazy busy, and I barely had enough time to study with how packed my schedule was. My schedule has finally calmed down a bit, and I am so happy to be able to write again. This chapter is a continuation of the Jasper arc, and there will be one more chapter before it ends and I move onto the next requested arc. 
> 
> The main theme of today's chapter is relapsing. When you have a long-lasting idea or belief, it can be hard to change your thought process. Twoie went for years thinking he and his problems weren’t as important as others, and even though he’s getting therapy, relapsing is always a possibility. Now that Jasper is back and causing problems for his family, Twoie can’t help relapsing into his old habits and mindset. He’s aware of it to an extent but brushes it off “for the greater good.” Luckily, his family has learned and they are ready to help him through it.
> 
> If you haven't checked out the chapter called author's note, please do so! I shared a fanart and a fanwork, so please check them out! I hope you all are doing well, and I'll do my best to start posting once a week now! (I wanted to get this chapter out as quickly as possible, but I will try to post on tuesdays from now on.)

The beach house was silent. The gems were in their rooms, relaxing after a busy day, and Greg, Twoie, and Steven were asleep. Or at least, Greg and Steven were asleep. The lit desk lamp and the sound of a pencil on paper were the only indicators someone was still awake in the middle of the night. Twoie sat hunched over his desk, writing furiously in a notebook. He’d closed the door to his bedroom, so Steven wouldn’t be able to see the light from his room. The elder brother had been wracking his mind for a long time, to the point that he had no concept of time. With an annoyed huff, Twoie stopped and slammed his notebook shut, wincing at the loud thud that followed. It had been a few weeks after the incident on the beach, and Jasper was nowhere to be found. Garnet’s future vision was working again, but the gem could only predict that Jasper would eventually return to the kindergarten. Frustrated, the time traveler brushed his hands through his hair, propping his elbows against his desk. He had elected to write out the events that occurred in his timeline to see if he could predict Jasper’s location, but nothing worked. The timeline had deviated too much for him to predict the angry gem’s next move. He wouldn’t be able to get anything else done tonight, so Twoie stood and snuck out of his room.

The glittering stars in the sky failed to calm him. Anxiety clawed at his mind as he cautiously made his way to the forest on the outskirts of town. Even though he’d gotten stronger, he wasn’t strong enough to fight Jasper. To make it worse, he wasn’t even strong enough to beat younger Jasper. He knew he couldn’t beat Jasper in his time, but he’d hoped to at least stop her here. But, no. His weakness had gotten Amethyst hurt and encouraged her insecurities, just like it had in his timeline. The only difference was that he could help her without getting into an insecurity-fueled battle at the Sky Arena. And maybe that made him a hypocrite. That he was doing what he had stopped Amethyst from doing, but it didn’t matter as long as he was able to protect his family from Jasper.

It wasn’t too hard to sneak through the town, and Twoie was relieved once he was deep in the forest. It was unlikely for anyone to find him there since only himself and Steven knew where he was headed. A sense of irony lingered as he entered the little clearing at the edge of the cliff. This used to be Jasper’s spot, but now it was his. Twoie wondered what she’d think of that. He brushed the thought away as he looked around. The crevice from his outburst had been filled in when he first started training there a few weeks ago. However, the damaged trees and gouge in the dirt had remained.

Twoie knew it wasn’t healthy to dwell on his past actions. His therapist had insisted that he accept his issues and move forward, resolving to learn from his mistakes. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to fix the damage from when he accidentally hurt Steven. Steven never talked about it. His family never talked about it. Did they even know? Twoie’s fists clenched tightly. No. Fixing up the clearing felt like he was pretending it had never happened. Steven may have forgiven him for it, but the guilt and horror of that moment would always linger in the back of Twoie’s mind. Twoie shook the thought away. He needed to focus on his training.

Several hours later, Twoie returned to his bedroom. His cookie cat alarm clock showed that it was just about the time he’d usually wake up. Perfect. Now, it wouldn’t look suspicious if he took a shower. The young man quietly climbed downstairs, careful not to wake his brother, and bid good morning to Pearl when he noticed her standing in the kitchen.

“Good morning, Twoie! I hope you slept well.” Pearl enthusiastically called out while she flipped a pancake on the stove.

“Yeah, I did.” Twoie made a show of sniffing the air, “Are you making Pearlcakes?”

Pearl smiled and made a shooing motion. “Yes, so you better finish getting ready. I’ll wake up Steven.” At her dismissal, Twoie continued on his way to the shower. Pearl smiled as she gently transferred the pancake to a small stack of pancakes beside her. Ever since she started learning more about humans, cooking was something she had taken to with gusto. It didn’t matter that the prim gem didn’t like eating. She had fun cooking, and it was relaxing. Pearl knew she could get high-strung and anxious when things went wrong or seemed like they could go wrong. Her studies on humans included how humans generally coped with stress. That had led down a pathway about stress-relieving hobbies, like stress-cooking and stress-baking. Not only did they help her calm down, but she was also able to bring her family together with a good meal. It felt amazing when Pearl cooked with Twoie or Steven, and then everyone sat together to talk about their day. The happy smiles all around filled her with a warmth she never could’ve imagined. Footsteps coming down the stairs broke her out of her reverie. Pearl peered over her shoulder and smiled at Steven as he drowsily walked over to the kitchen. “Morning, Steven!”

Steven shuffled over and hugged her before he tiredly made his way to the counter. “Morning, Pearl.” He yawned while pulling himself up on the barstool. The kid blinked as Pearl set a plate of hot pancakes down in front of him. “Yum, Pearlcakes?” Steven brightened up immediately and dug in. Pearl chuckled and headed over to the basement stairway.

“Greg! Breakfast!” That task complete, the prim gem headed back to the kitchen and grabbed her phone. She texted Amethyst and Garnet that breakfast was ready and began setting more plates out. “Steven, could you set these plates on the coffee table, please?” Steven nodded and did as she asked. Just as he was about to return to his seat, the bathroom door opened, and Twoie stepped out.

“Twoie!” Steven rushed over and hugged his brother. “Good morning! Pearl made Pearlcakes!”

The elder ruffled Steven’s hair as he returned the hug. “Morning. Yeah, I saw her cooking when I came down.” The two made their way to the counter, where Pearl set the final plate beside Steven’s plate. “Thanks, Pearl.”

Pearl nodded happily at him, then waved to Amethyst and Garnet as they walked into the room, and watched as the morning conversation started. She couldn’t imagine a better life than this. Yet, something was bothering her. She felt it the moment Twoie had walked downstairs. As everyone ate, the prim gem’s eyes covertly shifted to Twoie. He was smiling as the group talked about some event that happened at the car wash, but she could see the bags under Twoie’s eyes. He looked exhausted, but her mind could not come up with a reason for it. There were few missions that week, and even though Twoie was teaching Steven again, the workload had been light. Pearl subtly turned her focus to Garnet. Their leader was also secretly staring at Twoie. Seems they had both caught on to Twoie’s exhaustion. Pearl minutely nodded and tuned back into the conversation. There would be a meeting about this later.

* * *

“This meeting of the Universe household is now called to order.” Garnet stood up from the barstool and addressed the group assembled on the couch. After breakfast, Twoie had informed them that he would be investigating the kindergarten again. When Steven and Amethyst offered to tag along, the young man had declined and promptly warped away. It was the perfect time to call a family meeting. “I’ve noticed that Twoie is starting to act more nervous and secretive again. He had bags under his eyes but played off his exhaustion as going to bed late. However, his exhaustion is more indicative of long-term sleep deprivation, and not of a bad night of sleep.”

Pearl nodded in agreement. She could see the gears turning in everyone elses’ heads. Hopefully, they could figure out what was causing this. “I’d like to add that I’ve noticed coffee more frequently on the grocery list on the fridge. We shouldn’t be running out this quickly as Twoie and Greg are the only ones in this house that drink coffee.”

Greg frowned as he nodded at Pearl. “That’s true. I don’t drink more than two cups a day. If we’re running out that quickly, it has to be Twoie.”

Amethyst and Steven exchanged a look of concern. They had an idea about why Twoie was acting like this but hoped they’d be wrong. After hearing the information that had been shared, it seemed like that wasn’t the case. The short gem sighed and brushed her hands through her hair. “I might know why.” All eyes turned to Amethyst. “I’ve noticed that he’s been really anxious lately. I brushed it off because we’ve all been worried about Jasper, but now that I know of his lack of sleep, I think he’s been pushing himself.” Amethyst looked away from the others as she took a deep breath. It was hard to admit this, but she could do it. For Twoie. “After that whole mess with Bismuth not trusting Twoie, I blamed myself for Twoie getting hurt. I thought that I was too weak to stop Bismuth, and that was why Twoie had to relive a traumatizing event.” Amethyst flinched slightly when she felt a hand on her arm. She turned and saw Steven’s concerned gaze. The purple gem smiled softly at him, thankful for the support and comfort that her younger brother was giving her. “I spent all of my free time training. I thought, ‘if I could just get stronger, I’d be able to prevent you guys from getting hurt like that again.’ I’m pretty sure Twoie is doing something similar.”

Greg pulled Amethyst into a hug, which quickly morphed into a group hug with everyone present. Amethyst could feel how much her family loved her. It made her feel like she could take on the world. “Okay, okay!” Amethyst laughed as she playfully pushed at everyone. “You guys are so sappy! I’m fine now.” She looked at everyone around her. “I feel like he’s been beating himself up after our fight with Jasper on the beach. I felt a little worse about myself that day, and he and Steven cheered me up. But we all know how Twoie is.”

Steven hummed in agreement. “He’d feel like it was his fault and then get stressed out about doing better.” The kid pushed himself off of the couch and walked towards the warp.

“Steven? Where are you going?” Greg looked at his son, curiously. He figured Steven had some kind of idea to help Twoie, but he still wanted to know where his son was headed.

Steven smiled as he looked back at the rest of his family. “We’ve tried telling him before, and it helped a little, but I think he needs to hear it from the others, too.”

Amethyst grinned and walked over to him. “You mean Bismuth, Peri, and Lapis? I’m game! Twoie could definitely do with Bismuth’s chill vibe, and you know Lapis and Peri won’t let Twoie go until he’s feeling better.” Everyone else chuckled fondly. Even though the B-team were split between the forge and the barn, the group was always together. Peridot and Lapis had inaugurated Bismuth as an official member of the Camp Pining Hearts fandom and the world of meep morps. The trio was inseparable. And they always loved spending time with Steven and Twoie. If anyone would be able to cheer Twoie up, it’d be them.

“Sounds like a plan, Schtu-ball! Let us know if you need our help!” Greg called out as he stood and stretched. He still had to go to work, but he’d drop everything if Twoie and Steven needed him. Garnet and Pearl nodded as well. Steven had gotten much better at asking for help. They knew he’d be okay with the others. Happy that the others agreed, Steven and Amethyst stepped onto the warp and disappeared in a flash of light.


	6. Friends By My Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst and Steven seek out the help of the B-Team, hoping that they'll be able to convince Twoie not to blame himself for the beach incident. However, it seems like it will be harder than they thought to convince one of the members to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! Now that I have a little more free time, I'm gonna try to update every Saturday. We'll see how that goes! 
> 
> This chapter is a continuation of the Jasper Arc. There will be one more chapter, and then I'll be moving onto the next story arc request. This ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would, but I think it's been pretty interesting! I had to get a new take on how this would end, since Steven, Connie, and Twoie managed to capture both corrupted quartzes during the Beach Incident. So, I brought in the B-Team! Cause Twoie needs a good pep talk and some friendship stat! XD
> 
> Let me know what you think! There's a lot going on in this chapter.

For being out in the country, the barn was one of the liveliest places that Bismuth had ever been to. She loved hanging out with Lapis and Peridot. The blacksmith had finally been properly introduced to the barn mates after Twoie was ‘healed’ from his corrupted state. She used the term ‘healed’ lightly as her friend’s situation wasn’t as simple as the word implied. Twoie was far from healed, even though he was no longer corrupted. Bismuth was a daily visitor of the beach house when Twoie was recovering from his corruption. She had learned a lot about the problems her young friend had dealt with. It really put her life into perspective. Self-corruption. That was something she had never heard of before. And the idea of it was terrifying. Bismuth sighed as she watched Lapis and Peridot talking about a design for a new meep morp. Gems were capable of many amazing things, but it would be arrogant to think that Twoie’s self-corruption was done and dealt with. Emotions were complicated, she had experience with that, and Bismuth knew that such a long-ingrained way of thinking would take more than a song and some hugs to change. 

“What do you think, Bismuth?” The gem in question was startled out of her thoughts. Peridot was staring at her, head tilted curiously while waiting for her reply.

Bismuth sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck as she pushed herself up from the pile of hay she was lying on. “Sorry, Peri. I was thinking about something and didn’t hear the question. What’d you say?”

Lapis huffed fondly. “Peridot asked if you had an idea for a meep morp that would be nice to give to Twoie and Steven.” Bismuth blinked in surprise as Lapis pulled some water from the little man-made lake outside the barn. The water floated into a tiny shape of the brothers. “Twoie and Steven always come here to see our meep morps, and Peridot thought it’d be nice to make a meep morp for the house. But it has to be small, or it won’t fit.”

Peridot nodded vigorously. “We both agree that one of Steven and Twoie would be nice, but we’ll have to make two of them. I wanted to make it out of metal, but Lapis wanted to make it out of paper and paint.”

“You just want to keep working on your metal powers.” Lapis lightly punched Peridot on the shoulder.

“Just because Twoie and Steven helped me awaken my powers doesn’t mean that’s the reason why I want to make it out of metal.” The small gem haughtily placed her hands on her hips. “If it’s made of metal, I could also program some advantageous features into the meep morp.”

That caught Bismuth’s attention. “What kinda features are you thinking of?” Humans had lots of recreational tools that Bismuth was still learning about. Her friend probably had some idea to improve some human invention.

Peridot smirked and gave her a sly side glance. “I’m glad you asked!” She ran over to the chalkboard, propped against the barn wall, and pulled it into the barn’s lobby. “I’ve heard of these earth tools called ‘sound machines.’ They purposefully include relaxing soundwaves that function to soothe the nerves of humans who listen to them.” She pointed to a drawing of a person sleeping while music played. “There is a lot of research that proves these noises lead to a better state of rest.” Peridot pointed to another drawing on the board of the meep morp with a speaker. “We can also program it to connect wirelessly to human phones. That way, it doubles as a speaker system for music!” She cackled loudly, throwing her hands in the air. “It’s genius!”

Lapis and Bismuth exchanged a fond look as Peridot continued praising herself. Lapis had to admit, though, it was a really good idea. “Okay, maybe it is a better idea than a paper meep morp. Do you think we have enough materials for two, or do we need Bismuth to make more?”

Bismuth hummed as she looked around the barn. She knew there were plenty of raw materials at the forge. It would probably work better for the mold to make it from scratch instead of salvaging materials from the barn. “I think, Peridot should gather everything she needs for the music and speaker portion, and I’ll work on the mold for the meep morp. Lapis, do you wanna come up with the design for the mold?” Her friend nodded and flew off to grab a sketchpad. Bismuth turned to help Peridot organize her task when she heard pounding footsteps outside. She looked up to see Steven and Amethyst run inside the barn. “Steven! Amethyst! Nice to see you two!”

Steven smiled as Lapis waved at them, and Peridot came running. “STEVEN! AMETHYST!” The small gem bowled them over as she tackled them in a hug.

Amethyst laughed as she pulled them close. “Nice to see you guys too!”

The hug broke off when Bismuth walked over and helped them stand. “What brings you two down to the barn?” While Amethyst and Steven were distracted, Lapis quietly turned the board over and pushed it against the wall. She’d rather not accidentally spoil the surprise.

When Steven and Amethyst shared a look, Peridot and Bismuth frowned. It was obvious that something was wrong. “You know how we’ve been trying to track Jasper?” Lapis froze when Amethyst said that name. She spun away from the group and walked out of the barn. The other two members of the B-Squad winced.

“Y-yeah. Uh, can you refrain from mentioning her? Lapis is still a bit sensitive about that.” Peridot whispered as she worriedly flicked her gaze from her friends to the barn door.

“Okay, that’s something we’re gonna have to talk about later.” Amethyst huffed. Avoiding the problem would only make things worse, which was definitely what the blue gem was doing. “Anyways, we came to ask if you guys would be willing to talk to Twoie? He’s been taking things pretty hard ever since that battle with Jasper on the beach, and we’re pretty sure he’s keeping secrets again.”

Peridot pouted while crossing her arms. “He’s claiming fault for the incident, isn’t he…” At Steven’s nod, the small gem glowered at the ground.

“Please tell me he hasn’t run off again,” Bismuth asked as she brushed her hands through her hair. The silence spoke volumes. “I can go check the forge unless you already have an idea of where he is?”

“I’m pretty sure he’s at the Kindergarten.” Steven piped up. He figured with how stressed Twoie was about the situation, that he’d gone to search the area again. His older brother had been doing it every couple of days for a while. “He still checks the place he remembered the fight with Jasper occurred at, even though he’s been checking for weeks.”

Bismuth sighed but gestured for the others to follow as she headed outside. “Well, I guess we better get going then.” She looked around and spotted Lapis hanging out on the roof of the barn. “Hey, Lapis. Twoie’s feeling down and needs us to cheer him up. Think you can come down here so we can get going?”

Lapis peered down at them with eyes narrowed in suspicion. “If the place you’re going to is the Kindergarten, then you guys can go without me.”

Peridot’s eyes widened, and she puffed her chest out in rage. “I KNEW IT! YOU DO EAVESDROP!” The technician rounded on Bismuth in triumphant anger. “I told you she was eavesdropping last week when we were talking about human misconceptions on extraterrestrials in media!”

Amethyst and Steven snickered as Bismuth slapped herself in exasperation. “Not the time Peridot.” The blacksmith turned back to the gem peering over the roof’s edge. “Come on, Lapis! Twoie needs us right now. And it’s not like Jasper’s there anyway.”

When Lapis continued to quietly pout, Amethyst sighed. “Twoie’s taking the whole situation with Jasper hard. He’s blaming himself for me getting hurt several weeks ago, and now he’s obsessing over finding her.” The purple gem really hoped that Lapis would join them. They both had problems with Jasper, and maybe they could help each other get past their issues.

But it looked like she’d have to fight with Lapis to get her to come. The blue gem huffed and looked away. “I’m not going. Bring Twoie here if you want, but I’m not going to the Kindergarten if there’s even the tiniest chance that Jasper will be there.”

Steven’s face scrunched up in annoyance. “But isn’t that a better reason to go?” Lapis peered down at the group again, brow raised in confusion. The kid’s fists clenched as Steven glared at her. “If the situation was reversed, Twoie would do everything to help you. And he did! We both did!” The rest of the gems looked at Steven in surprise. “When you were struggling to keep Jasper at bay as Malachite, Twoie and I did what we could to help you.” Lapis looked away in shame. “I get it. What happened with her traumatized you, and it’s scary. But you’re running away from your problems.” Steven saw Lapis flinch and felt bad for getting upset. He took a deep breath to calm down. “My therapist says that you need to acknowledge your issues and work through them. It’s okay to be afraid, but if you avoid your problems, then you’re letting them control you.”

Lapis narrowed her brows in determination. Steven was right. Lapis was avoiding her issues with Jasper. It’s just, they hurt so much to think about. But… An overwhelming sense of helplessness flooded through her. She could hear Jasper’s laughs and taunts in her ears. Remember how _~~Jasper grabbed her arm and persuaded her to attack her friends. Dragged her into the dream ocean as she wrenched control of Malachite from her.~~_ Lapis shook the thoughts from her head. No. She was sick and tired of being controlled. She wasn’t going to let anyone stop her from doing what she wanted. She didn’t want her fear to rule her, but how could she overcome this? How did Twoie overcome this? How did Steven?

“You’re right.” All eyes turned to Lapis. She took a deep breath and flew down from the barn, landing in front of Steven. She met his determined gaze with her own uncertain one. “I am scared of Jasper. I want to help Twoie, though. I want to work past it and overcome it like you and Twoie did.”

Steven grabbed Lapis’s hand. “We haven’t overcome all of them yet. Twoie and I are still working out our problems with mom and some of the stuff we’ve faced. And it’s hard,” Steven smiled as he gestured to Peridot, Bismuth, and Amethyst with his free hand, “but Twoie and I have friends who are helping us through it. You have friends that want to help you through it too!” The water gem cautiously looked at the group. Peridot was giving her the biggest smile, while Bismuth and Amethyst were giving her a thumbs up. That made her snort. Her friends were goofs, but she was glad she had them. She loved her friends.

Lapis’s worried expression shifted into a determined one. “Yeah, Steven. I guess I’ve been dealing with this by myself for too long.” She knelt and pulled Steven into a hug, making her friend laugh. “And I guess if I should be relying on friends more, we should go grab our missing one.”

Everyone grinned and walked over to the warp pad. Lapis smiled while quietly watching her friends chat about how much affection they would smother Twoie in. She knew her Pessimist Summer Fun Buddy would love their goofy ideas, even if he would weakly argue against it before eventually giving in. She listened to their ideas about a Crying Breakfast Friends and Camp Pining Hearts marathon as they warped into the Kindergarten. Lapis opened her mouth to joke about the new CPH throw blanket they had bought from the store when a loud roar interrupted the conversation. Everyone froze. Suddenly, a loud thud reverberated through the Kindergarten, and a cloud of smoke appeared in the distance. Steven stared out into the distance in horror. It sounded like a battle was going on, but that could only mean… “TWOIE!” 


	7. Author's Note (And Surprise Gift For You All)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! I'm sorry it's taking so long for me to upload the next chapter. School has been keeping me extremely busy and I've had no time to work on the chapter. Luckily, after my midterm on Tuesday, my schedule will be calming down, and I'll have more free time to write. I'll do my best to post a chapter next week, but until then, I have a couple of things to tie you all over until then. 
> 
> First off. fan art! @spacetraintothecosmos drew this awesome and terrifying [ fanart ](https://spacetraintothecosmos.tumblr.com/post/629359507960725504/just-a-steven-universe-time-travel-drawing) of a concept idea for Time Travel AU Change Your Mind, angst-edition! TW: Blood and injury. 
> 
> Second, The_Poptart_Cat wrote a [ story ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26612089) that was a gift for me and Flynaw00! I'm so touched! It's really good, so please check it out! It's also based on a concept idea for the Time Travel AU Change Your Mind and even goes beyond that episode.
> 
> Finally, as an apology and thank you for waiting this long, I've decided I would post a wip of the story idea you all gave me. I was slowly working on "A Split In The Path," thanks to RoxasTsuna_TMNT for helping me come up with the name! Yes, the introduction for the "Twoie dies after the gems attack him" one-shot that was a requested alternate end to Chapter 11/12 of Templeschool! I probably won't start posting written chapters until Office Hours is almost complete. I haven't written much of chapter 1, but I figure I'd slowly write the story over time. For now, please enjoy this small wip! 
> 
> I hope you guys are staying safe, and staying healthy! 2020 has been super stressful for everyone, so I hope you all are doing well!

Chapter 1: What You Can't Undo

If you asked Steven Universe what he thought of his life as a thirteen-year-old, he’d tell you that it was unique but fun. He lived in a beach house with his mom’s family, who also had really cool powers. He had a couple of friends in Beach City, but that was okay because everyone was friendly! He could do whatever he wanted, like playing video games, hanging out around town, or visiting his dad at the car wash. His favorite thing, though, was spending time with the gems when they weren’t busy. Most of the time, they were really busy. That was okay, though, because he knew they were busy protecting the earth! Life was great, and Steven loved everything about it.

If you asked Steven Universe what he thought of life as a sixteen-year-old, he’d tell you that life was just never-ending problems. He had almost died on so many occasions. He’d watched his friends and family get hurt, and Steven was even the cause of it in some cases. He’d had to deal with every mistake his mom had left for him and questioned who he was on multiple occasions. Steven had spent so much of his life trying to help people that he wasn’t sure what to do now that the Diamond Authority had changed their ways. Don’t take it the wrong way; Steven was so thankful that the second gem war was over, and most of the corrupted gems were healed. He had more friends and family than ever. Not to mention, life was peaceful again. But his friends and family were moving on. They were going out and doing more and more things. Discovering aspects of themselves that they had never considered or explored. It was terrific to see Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, and all of the others so happy. But it hurt. It hurt so much.

Because Steven wasn’t like them. He tried to be a teacher at Little Homeschool, and it was a disaster. Not teaching, he loved it! It was the advancing that tore him apart. His students would eventually graduate and move on, leaving him behind. He was so proud of them, and that made it hurt even more. He couldn’t hold them back, but it was agonizing how much he wanted to. So, Steven had quit. The temptation would disappear if he took himself out of the equation, right? But it hadn’t. Sitting at home, trying desperately to find something to do, just wasn’t enough anymore.

Messing around with Amethyst’s old hourglass had been a miracle. Now stuck in the past, Steven Universe had become Twoie Universe, past Steven’s new older brother. And it was perfect. He was helpful again. He was spending time with family that wasn’t going to just leave him behind. They needed him to watch over Steven, to protect him from the gems that wanted to take over the earth. That wanted to defeat the Crystal Gems. And wasn’t that just dandy? How amazing was it that being in a war made him so much happier than being in peace? Twoie had many sleepless nights reflecting on the revulsion that followed such thoughts. So, he had made a vow. He would protect Steven at all costs. He would make his life better than his own had been. That way, Steven would never get the chance to feel like Twoie. He would be spared such a horrible fate. And if that meant keeping secrets, manipulating this timeline so that events would happen in the best way possible, then Twoie was more than willing to make those decisions.

That’s why he always had the inkling that things could get worse. Life had beaten that thought process into him. But even life hadn’t prepared him for what happened next. Twoie wasn’t prepared for the gems to turn on him. To believe he would purposefully allow harm to come to Steven. Hadn’t he proven time and time again that he was looking out for Steven’s best interests? Peridot needed to kidnap Steven, or else the earth would’ve been destroyed. Steven was the only one who could befriend her. But the gems hadn’t felt that way. And when Twoie allowed Steven to unbubble Peridot, a crucial step needed to get Peri to trust Steven, he never imagined the gems would attack him. Maybe life hadn’t beaten it into him enough. Twoie should’ve remembered that things could always get worse. 


	8. A Soldier's Defeat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie checks the Kindergarten again as he continues searching for Jasper. He didn't expect her to find him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm so sorry that I'm posting this a day late! I was so ready to post yesterday and the chapter ended up being much longer than I thought it would be. I thought about making it two chapters, but couldn't find a good place to divide them, so please enjoy this (almost) 5,500-word chapter. There's a lot being addressed here. Not only is this the end of the Jasper Arc, but it's also a tie-in to the Bubbled Arc, and addresses Twoie's Issues with Fusion (that was sparked by questions from Pausa07, RoxasTsuna_TMNT, and The_Poptart_Cat).
> 
> I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
> 
> P.S. All alternate ending chapters have been moved to their own story. If you requested or liked any alternate endings, please look for updates from the new story [ What If? ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27788035/chapters/68027713)

When Twoie warped into the Kindergarten, he bee-lined for the same section of cliffs he remembered fighting Jasper at long ago. The time traveler huffed in frustration, kicking a pebble in his path as he walked. “I don’t get it!” He ruffled his hair with his hands. “She should’ve done something by now!” In his day, Jasper never would’ve waited so long to make her next move. She would’ve come storming to the beach house during one of the moments it was just him at home or caught him off guard on one of his secret training trips to the forest. So why hadn’t Jasper appeared yet? Even now, Twoie’s ritual of checking the Kindergarten was more to soothe his paranoia. That, somehow, she would still follow his timeline, even though things were wildly changed. Twoie and Steven had managed to poof her two corrupted quartzes, and there was no indication of corrupted gems being kept in cages at the Kindergarten. Yet, he still felt obligated to continue checking the Kindergarten anyway.

Twoie sighed again as he finally walked into the clearing of the battle that had yet to occur. No sign of Jasper. What a waste of time. The young man glared at the many holes in the cliffside before he turned to head back home. Maybe he could sneak off to the forest again to get some more training it. “Aww, leaving so soon, _Rose_?”

Twoie whipped around in shock. There was no one there. He couldn’t see anyone around the corner, nor from the path he had come from. “Jasper! Why are you here? Show yourself!” His eyes scanned all of the gem holes in the cliffside, then the clifftops, but he still didn’t see Jasper.

“You know, if you want to sound tough, you should keep the fear out of your voice.” Twoie kept turning around, trying to find where her voice was coming from. He couldn’t see anything! Was he going crazy? “I guess I shouldn’t turn down a request from the almighty Rose Quartz now, should I?” A creaky groan sounded from above, and Twoie looked up. His eyes dilated in horror, and he barely had time to dodge the gem injector that came crashing down. He coughed harshly from the dust the impact had stirred up. Before he realized what was going on, something grabbed his arm and sent him flying. Twoie gasped as he hit the ground, skidding a few feet further from the force. “I don’t know how you managed to gain your followers when you’re so weak.” The young man pushed himself to his feet, facing the dissipating cloud of dust.

Jasper sneered at him as she stepped out from the haze. She didn’t give Twoie the time to respond, as she quickly rolled into a spin attack and slammed him further down the trail they were on. Twoie gasped in pain as he, once again, skid across the ground. He shook the dirt off as he rose to his feet. Jasper wasn’t pulling any punches with him. She had managed to ambush him. This was completely different from how he remembered her in his time! He couldn’t predict anything about this fight anymore. Twoie could feel his stress rising, heart beating wildly as Jasper walked towards him. Without his awareness, Twoie’s cheeks glowed pink as he glared at the approaching gem. “Resorting to ambushes now? I’d say you’re the one who’s scared of me. Why else would you change tactics after all this time?”

Jasper crowed with laughter, making Twoie angrier. “Oh, Rose. This is the difference between you and me.” The orange gem stopped when she was a couple of feet away from Twoie. “You’re a disgrace. You may have been the leader of the rebellion, but I was made to be the ultimate soldier.” Jasper’s helmet manifested on her head. “I proved my worth as Pink Diamond’s best soldier while you defied your purpose.” Twoie’s fists clenched when Jasper pointed at him. “That’s why you’ll always be beneath me. You may have surprised me with your underhanded fusion tactics in the past, but that won’t work on me again. I will beat you and make you watch as the rest of your little group of rejects are crushed beneath my foot.”

Twoie snarled, bubbling his fists and charging at the orange gem. “Don’t you dare threaten my family!” Jasper grinned as she dodged his punches. She caught one in her arm and shoved him back. She charged forward, only to pass through the air when Twoie jumped out of her path. And continued running? Twoie wasn’t sure what she was doing, but he wouldn’t let her get away. He followed behind as Jasper turned another corner leading to a dead-end clearing. He gasped. This was how he remembered their fight. In several of the holes, metal bars were forced through to form multiple cages. Five corrupted quartzes were trapped inside, each in a different cage. How did he miss this?

“Do you get it now, Rose?” Jasper jumped up to one of the cages and patted the bar. The corrupted quartz inside bristled with fear. “You were too predictable. After our battle at the beach, I came here to find a place to confine my soldiers while I built up my army. Imagine my surprise when I found you and your defects sniffing around instead.” Twoie’s eyes widened in shock. She was here? She was here the whole time? “None of you were subtle. I could hear you talking about how you were searching for me. How you knew I’d be using the Kindergarten to hold these beasts. So, I found a different area and waited.” Twoie’s expression twisted with rage. His fault… It was all his fault! He had outed their plan while they were searching the Kindergarten. He was the one who had convinced the gems to scope out the Kindergarten in the first place. It was his fault that Jasper had the opportunity to change her plan. To fool them. Consumed with guilt and shame, he didn’t notice his cheeks glow even brighter. But Jasper did.

She grinned triumphantly when the corrupted quartzes stopped biting and scratching at their cages. They focused entirely on the glowing teen in front of them. Instincts swelled within them, howling about the danger the teen in front of them presented. Each quartz was cornered, trapped in their cages while this monster in front of them was free. They bristled with fear of the creature that blocked their only escape. “I built up my army and waited for the moment you would come alone.” Jasper relished the horror she saw in her enemy’s eyes. She grabbed one of the occupied cage’s bars. “You used to know these freaks, right Rose? Why don’t we have a little reunion?” Jasper’s smiled evilly as she pulled the bar out.

The corrupted quartz shoved it’s way through the opening and charged at Twoie. The young man quickly manifested a pink panel to block the charge, followed with a swift punch to its side. The beast roared in pain, but before Twoie could poof it, another corrupted quartz tackled him. He summoned a shield and flung it with it such force that the gem poofed immediately. Twoie flinched when the gem clattered to the ground. He hadn’t meant to attack like that. If his shield had made contact with the gem, it likely would’ve cracked. Loud footfalls snapped the young man out of his reverie. He looked up to see two more quartzes charging at him. Twoie quickly summoned a bubble around himself. The beasts slammed the barrier in sync, making him wince from the pressure. His mind was racing.

Jasper had never been this ruthless. He couldn’t even beat her in his time; how would he be able to now? Already Twoie could feel the exhaustion as the fight continued. Twoie needed to end this fast if he wanted to defeat her. With a deep breath, Twoie focused on his pink powers. The bubble instantly grew, shoving the quartzes into the air. While those corrupted gems recovered, the first quartz beast roared as it charged again but was quickly poofed with a spike-bubble punch. He heard another poof as the beasts landed, leaving one corrupted gem remaining. Twoie turned to poof it but cried out as a spin-dash flung him into the cliffside. The force of the impact cracked the cliff, forming a large cloud of dust. Twoie slumped to the ground in pain. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could last. The young man grimaced as he shakily pushed himself to his feet.

“Face it, Rose! You’re done for.” Jasper stalked forward and grabbed Twoie by his jacket’s collar. She slammed him into the cliff again, laughing as he cried out in pain. “How does it feel to taste defeat? I can’t wait to bring you before Yellow Diamond and watch as you’re shattered.” Jasper leaned forward until she was centimeters away from her prisoner. “You will pay dearly for what you did to my Diamond.” The soldier raised her fist into the air.

“LET HIM GO!” Jasper gasped as she barely managed to dodge the large grey hammer flung at her, dropping Twoie in the process. The weapon morphed back into an arm as it retracted back to Bismuth. Jasper growled as Peridot, Amethyst, Lapis, and Steven caught up to their friend. “Lapis, grab Twoie, and retreat! We’ve got this.” Lapis nodded at Bismuth as she flew forward and scooped Twoie into her arms.

“Wait! Lapis-!” Twoie weakly struggled in his friend’s grasp, trying to get her to let go so he could return to the fight.

Lapis glared while she flew around the corner and out of sight. “Shut up, Twoie.” She gently set him down before landing as well. “You need to take better care of yourself. Rest for a moment, and then you can head back to fight.”

Twoie glared at her, moving to walk past her. Lapis narrowed her eyes and summoned a small wall of water to stop him. “Seriously, Lapis. I need to go help.”

“You need to use your powers to heal yourself, then you can stand here until you’re not glowing pink.” Lapis pointed her finger at Twoie in frustration. “Why are you so worried about Jasper anyway? You’ve beaten her in the past, and you would’ve been fine if you had brought someone with you!”

Her friend just huffed as he paced angrily. Twoie’s hands fisted his hair before he whirled on Lapis. “Because getting others involved just got them hurt! Amethyst was hurt on the beach when Jasper attacked, and it brought up her insecurities! Then, I brought the gems here to show them where Jasper was in my time, but apparently, that was enough for Jasper to find out what we were doing.” Twoie gritted his teeth and walked over to the cliffside. He pulled back his arm and punched it. “Don’t you get it? It’s my fault that this happened again! I’m the reason we’ve been searching for so long! I’m the reason Jasper almost won just now!”

A ball of water splashed him. Twoie sputtered in surprise from the cold water and turned to face Lapis. She glared at him as several more orbs of water floated around her. “Stars, you’re so stubborn! It’s not your fault, Twoie. Stop blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong. Jasper almost won because she’s a vindictive, controlling clod. You’re so obsessed with beating her that you’re letting her control you!” Lapis froze, blinking in surprise. Then she slapped herself on the face. “Wow. I can’t believe Steven just scolded me for this, and now I’m scolding you.” She laughed as she looked away. “We were talking about my fear of encountering Jasper, and I didn’t tell Steven, but I…” Lapis bit her lip. “I- I miss being with Jasper.” She closed her eyes and waited for him to exclaim or judge or- or something! But it was quiet. She welled up the courage to look at Twoie and saw him smiling sadly at her. Where was the revulsion? The shock and horror? Why did he look so empathetic?

“Being in a fusion feels pretty good, doesn’t it.” Lapis’s jaw dropped as Twoie chuckled bitterly. “You feel stronger, less alone. You feel like you belong.” Twoie slid back against the cliff wall until he was sitting. “And there’s an emptiness inside you when you’re apart. If you fuse on good terms, that emptiness fades, and you feel fine. If you fuse out of desperation or fear, that feeling lingers.”

Lapis collapsed to the ground. “W-why… How do you know that? I didn’t expect anyone to understand!”

Twoie pulled up his shirt, revealing his gem. “Steven doesn’t know, and I’d prefer you don’t tell him, but we’re actually a permanent fusion.” Lapis gasped in shock. When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “I was separated forcefully from my gem half, and it was the worst feeling in the world. I was desperate, no, obsessed with returning to my other half.” Twoie pulled his shirt back down. “When I re-fused, I felt so whole. We fused together happily. But there have been times when I fused with the others out of necessity.” He frowned as he recalled some of his more recent experiences with his past family. “There was this moment where I kept fusing back and forth with Garnet and Pearl. Every time we fused, it was for a specific purpose, not because we wanted to be fused for ourselves.” Twoie could still recall the strain and exhaustion, not just from running back and forth, but from fusion becoming a tool. Sunstone and Rainbow Quartz 2.0 were needed for a class and babysitting. They were simply there to fill a gap and then move on when the task was done. “That was when I felt like being useful was everything. I went to any length to help others, even if it hurt me. And when we were done, all I could think about was how I was more useful as a fusion than as myself.” Twoie sounded like he could break. “It scared me. I didn’t fuse again after that.”

Lapis rose, walked over to Twoie, and then plopped down in front of him. She pulled him into a tight hug. “I guess I’m glad the others told me to talk to you. I feel better knowing that I’m not the only one who is struggling with fusion.” She broke off the hug. “When I was fused with Jasper, it wasn’t healthy. I hated her, and I took out my frustrations on her. And then, I was mad that I missed her because I was so terrible to her. I was so cruel. Why did I have the right to miss her?” Lapis chuckled sadly. “I think I needed to hear that fusion isn’t always a good thing. That it can be abused. Fusing with Jasper was bad for me, and it’s okay that I don’t want to fuse again.”

A loud thud broke the calm, and Twoie and Lapis quickly jumped to their feet. “Let’s talk about this more when we’re done. I feel better, so I’m ready to help fight.” Twoie was glad that Lapis had talked with him. He no longer felt like he was drowning in his anxieties, and Lapis seemed happier as well. The two ran back to the battle, just in time to see Smokey Quartz slam Jasper to the ground with her yo-yo. Bismuth and Peridot whooped in encouragement from the sidelines.

“I will _not_ be beaten by another fusion!” Jasper roared as she jumped back to her feet. She glared at Smokey, but the arrival of Lapis and Twoie caught her attention. “Lapis!” Smokey, Bismuth, and Peridot quickly turned to see the blue gem flinch at Jasper’s voice. “I was looking for you!” Lapis took a step back at the crazed and desperate look in the soldier’s eyes. Smokey narrowed her eyes at Jasper and moved to block her path. Jasper either ignored it or didn’t care as she took another step towards the water gem. “While I was looking for you, I ended up finding the traitors instead. I figured it’d be better to wait, but now you’re here!” The soldier grinned maniacally. “Now you can fuse with me!”

Lapis jerked back in horror. Smokey snarled and prepared a strike with her to-yo. “Back off, bub. We’re not going to let you hurt her again!”

Jasper laughed at her, then turned to face Bismuth and Peridot, off to the side. “Is that what you think? That you need to protect her from me?”

“Duh! You’re the one attacking us!” Peridot screeched with her hands in the air.

The soldier chuckled, then full-out laughed. Jasper pointed at Lapis. “No, she’s the one you need to be careful of. I thought I was a brute, but she’s a monster.”

Twoie bristled and stomped forward. “Lapis is not a monster. She was overwhelmed by her emotions, and she’s working through them. Don’t you dare try to guilt her into fusing with you!”

Lapis watched as her friends defended her from Jasper. She reflected on her conversation with Twoie. She was angry and scared when she was Malachite. She was still scared of seeing Jasper. Of being reminded of that feeling, and the temptation of fusing again. But seeing her friends care for her, her mind was clear. “No.” Jasper jumped lightly at the conviction in her voice. “What we had wasn’t healthy. I took out everything on you, and I enjoyed hurting you.” She glared at the soldier. “I never want to feel like that ever again.”

Jasper clenched her fists tightly. Her eyes swept over her enemies, and she noted that Twoie looked battle-ready. She gritted her teeth. Jasper was outnumbered already, but these freaks were willing to fuse to beat her. She needed to fuse if she wanted any chance of winning. With Lapis refusing her, there was only one option left. Jasper backed up until she felt the cold metal bar of the last occupied cage behind her. The others advanced on her, and Jasper knew this was her last chance. She grabbed the bar and ripped it out of the rock. Twoie’s eyes widened in absolute terror as she grabbed the corrupted gem. “Jasper! Don’t!” Right before she fused, she caught a glimpse of him running towards her, and then the world flashed white.

* * *

Twoie knew what she was about to do. He had hoped that he could save her from corrupting, but he didn’t expect her to act so quickly. The others stared at him in surprise when he lunged forward, only to realize what the soldier had done. The beastly fusion of Jasper and the quartz stared down at them. Bismuth rushed forward and pulled Twoie back just as the fusion swiped at him. Smokey glared and spun her yo-yo like a fan. “Okay, Jasper. Enough playing around. I’ve got a move that will blow you away!” The weapon spun so quickly, it began pushing Jasper back. When Jasper dug in her paws and starting closing the distance, Smokey manifested two more yo-yos. “Alright. Let’s see how you deal with this!” She spun all three yo-yos, and suddenly, Jasper was caught in a whirlwind.

Jasper gasped as her fusion broke apart. She grabbed the beast, fighting to keep her grip on the corrupted gem. “No! We can still beat them! If we stay together-!” Lapis looked away as Jasper forced the beast to fuse again. Bismuth noticed, still holding Twoie against her, and hugged Lapis to her side as well. Smokey stopped her attack and watched as the soldier once again unfused. Jasper and the beast fell to the ground. The beast quickly rolled off of its back and ran off, leaving Jasper behind.

The Kindergarten was quiet as Jasper raised her head and watched the Corrupted gem run. “No one who fuses with me ever wants to stay…” Jasper quietly muttered to herself. The horrible bitterness stayed in her as she began laughing. Smokey unfused, and Steven and Amethyst watched in concern as Jasper laughed at the sky. Twoie saw the soldier’s arm begin to discolor, and he quickly broke out of Bismuth’s hold. He raced forward and pulled Steven to his chest, shielding his gaze.

“Hey! Twoie, what are you doing?” Steven pushed lightly against his brother but stopped when Amethyst gasped. Twoie tightened his hold on his brother.

“That’s… corruption,” Amethyst muttered in horror.

Steven immediately resumed his attempts to break out of his brother’s arms. “Wait! Twoie, let me go! Maybe I can help her!”

“No.” Steven froze at Twoie’s words. Twoie couldn’t take his eyes off of the corrupting gem. “I tried. The only cure for corruption by the Diamond’s attack is the essence of all four Diamonds.” His words rang throughout the clearing, and Bismuth looked away. She felt Peridot latch onto her, and the blacksmith hugged her friends closer. They may have been enemies, but Bismuth wouldn’t wish corruption on anyone. Twoie felt guilt well up inside him. He wished he could’ve changed this. “Jasper. I’m sorry. I tried to stop you, but I couldn’t get to you in time.”

Jasper stared at him with unbridled hatred in her eyes. “Rose. I see how you work now.” She dug her hands into the ground. “ You want gems after they’re worthless. You wait until after they’ve lost.” Jasper looked at her hands, corrupting even as she spoke. “Because when you’re at the bottom, you’ll follow anyone if it makes you feel less like... a failure.” The super soldier gestured to Lapis, Peridot, and Bismuth with her uncorrupted arm. “Look at them!” Bismuth narrowed her eyes and hugged her friends tighter. “You’ve stripped them of everything! Of their status, their purpose… their dignity.”

“The only thing we were stripped of was the control the Diamonds had on us.” Bismuth bristled at Jasper. “We were forced to do as we were told. But earth is a place of freedom. We make our own decisions. We decide on our purpose. And we have more dignity than you.” She sighed, looking down at Jasper with pity. “You’re just a tool for the Upper Crusts. Even one failure would be enough to get you demoted in the hierarchy or shattered. Why would you give them so much loyalty when they don’t even extend it to you?”

“Why would I ever listen to you when you think of this planet as home? Earth is a prison.” Everyone jumped at the venom in Jasper’s voice. “Yellow Diamond trusted me to conduct this mission. I got out because I’m better than this place, and Yellow Diamond knew it. That’s why she sent me to ensure its destruction. But I saw an opportunity.” The orange gem shook as the corruption spread. Twoie scooped Steven up just as Jasper pushed herself to her feet. Steven tried to look, but Twoie covered his gaze with his hand. “I only came back to finish you off.” The soldier lunged forward, and Twoie jumped back. Amethyst immediately summoned her whip, while Peridot eyed their surroundings. She knew Jasper. She knew how she would act, and luckily, Jasper had left a bunch of metal around the Kindergarten. “I’ve wanted to shatter you for so long.” Jasper stared at Twoie with a crazed look in her eyes. Her body continued corrupting, but she kept dragging herself forward, step by step. “I want to watch as your light form glitches, as you writhe in pain while your gem shatters to pieces.” Twoie backed up with each advance Jasper made. He shifted his hold on his brother so that he could cover Steven’s ears while tucking him to his chest. “I want you to pay for what you did to my colony. For what you did to my planet! For what you DID TO MY DIAMOND!”

Jasper screeched in pain as she grew in size. Green spots dotted along her face and arms, and horns sprouted out of her body. When the transformation was over, the corrupted gem roared and charged. Peridot knew she had to act. She focused her powers on a bar and flung it. Her aim rang true as the bar pierced through Jasper, leaving behind only her gem with a quiet poof. Everyone was silent as Amethyst walked forward and bubbled the gem.

Twoie set Steven down, and the kid walked over to Amethyst. She was staring at the bubble in her hands. It was hard to see what Jasper had become. Steven never realized that Jasper’s true desperation to defeat Rose Quartz was because she was a soldier under Pink Diamond. Just another gem that his mom had hurt with her war. Steven shook his head. It wasn’t right to think like that. The kid looked up at his brother, seeing the sadness in his eyes. Maybe that was why Twoie was so obsessed with finding her as well. It was possible Twoie didn’t know about Jasper, but the lack of surprise meant something similar probably happened in his time too. Steven wondered if Twoie was even aware of his subconscious desire to help Jasper. Deciding that would be a conversation for another day, he silently comforted Amethyst as she said goodbye to Jasper and sent her to the temple. The day had been exhausting, but at least Jasper was no longer a threat.

“Let’s go home. I’m sure we’re all tired and could use the rest.” Bismuth finally let go of her friends and walked up to Twoie. She gently placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. The young man sighed but nodded. Steven and Amethyst walked over to them, and the whole group made their way back to the warp.

“Are you feeling better now, Twoie?” Steven grabbed his brother’s hand as he looked up at him. The kid wasn’t sure what had happened after Lapis had gotten Twoie away from the fight, but Twoie seemed more like himself when the two had returned. His brother nodded wearily, but he was smiling, and that was a good sign.

Amethyst smiled as she watched them. Thank stars her plan worked. She figured the B-Team would be able to help Twoie. Although they had won, the walk back to the warp was subdued. Everyone was affected by Jasper's corruption, hitting far too close to home after Twoie’s own corruption. It just reminded them that they were lucky that Twoie’s corruption wasn’t the same as the Diamond’s attack. Arriving at the warp, they decided to stop at the barn first to spend a little more time together before Twoie, Steven, and Amethyst went home.

“Do you think Garnet and Pearl have realized what happened yet?” Steven wondered as they stepped off the warp and walked to the barn.

Amethyst hummed in thought, tucking her hands behind her head. “I doubt it. Your phones would be blowing up if they knew.” Twoie and Steven chuckled lightly. Yeah, Pearl was a bit of a worry-wart. She’d be calling them non-stop if she knew they’d fought Jasper. “We’ll let them know when we’re on our way home. They’ll want to know all of the details, and I’d rather just relax for a bit.” Thankfully, the barn was right past the next hill. The group reached the top and gasped. Garnet and Pearl were at the barn, holding back three rubies while two others stood in front of them.

No one missed Twoie flinch at the sight of them. Steven looked up at his brother in concern. He was trembling faintly. “Twoie? What’s wrong?”

Twoie knelt and placed his hands on Steven’s shoulders. “I need you to hide.” He looked up at Bismuth, Peridot, and Lapis. “You guys need to watch him. I want you to circle around the back of the barn and stay out of sight until we’re gone. Got it?”

Steven shook his head. “No, I’m not hiding while you and the others are in danger! What’s going to happen? Why are you so scared?”

Twoie took a deep breath and looked at Amethyst. “The rubies are here because they didn’t find Jasper. In my time, you shifted into Jasper and tricked them into taking us to the moon base. Once there, we tried to convince them to leave without Jasper, and it almost worked.” The others listened intently as Twoie continued. “We were about to leave, so you dropped your disguise. The rubies realized we tricked them and attacked us while we were still on the moonbase.” The young man turned to Steven. “You opened the bay doors, and the rubies were pushed out of the base by Sardonyx. However, they unfused as they were forced out, and a ruby grabbed you, pulling you out into space as well.” Steven stiffened in fear while the others gasped. The kid could see the fear in his brother’s eyes as he talked about the battle.

“I was stuck in space for so long. You can’t tell time when you’re floating through endless space.” Twoie shivered. “I managed to form a bubble, so I had oxygen, but without a source to create oxygen, I was on a time limit for the gems to find me. I saw Eyeball and decided to rescue her. She tried to kill me.” Steven hugged his brother to comfort him but was surprised when his brother hugged him tightly. “I had to throw her out into space, and she’s hated me ever since. I almost suffocated. I was all alone, hoping the gems would find me, and I must’ve passed out because the next thing I knew, I was in the rubies’ ship with the others.” The gems present all wrapped Twoie into a big group hug.

Amethyst tried to calm herself with the knowledge that her other self had found Twoie, but she was scared. If those events repeated in this timeline, there was no guarantee they would find Steven. They could lose him. “We won’t let that happen, Twoie. I promise.” Amethyst murmured as she hugged her brothers tighter.

“I’m still coming with you.” Steven broke out of the hug, eyes narrowed in determination as he stared his brother down. “Garnet and Pearl don’t know this is going to happen yet. Someone needs to be able to help explain the situation to them, while Amethyst is distracting them. You’ll also need help distracting the rubies if they come back while Amethyst shifts out of her disguise.” Twoie opened his mouth to protest, but Steven cut him off. “We know how it’ll happen. That means we can take prevent it from happening again.”

Peridot’s eyes lit up, and she got in Twoie’s face. “I have the perfect backup plan! You and Steven are such trouble-magnets that I created a tracker for each of you.” The technician looked at her hand and started listing off the features she programmed into it. “It’s space-proof, water-proof, fire-proof, and damage-resistant!” She backed up, so she could look at the barn. “All have to do is get it from the barn and place it on you two before you head up to space. I created them a couple of weeks ago and was going to place them on you in your sleep, but I had yet to find the perfect location for them.” Everyone looked at Peridot in concern. She looked at them all in confusion. “What? What did I say?”

Steven shook his head. “We’ll talk about that later. For now, I think that’s great! Twoie and I will wear the trackers, and I’ll slip the tracker pad to Pearl when I get the chance. That way, if we do somehow end up in space, you guys will be able to find us.” The kid turned to Twoie. “I’m coming with you, but things won’t end up like they did in your time. I promise we’ll be okay.” Twoie met Steven’s determined gaze. If he didn’t accept, Steven would probably find a way to sneak onboard. At least, Steven will have a tracker if they went with his plan.

Twoie sighed in acceptance. “Fine. We’ll go with your plan. Just let me hit the panel for the doors, okay? I’ll be able to keep my hold on the wall if the ruby tries to grab for me again.” Steven nodded in agreement. Twoie watched as the B-Team left to go get the trackers before running towards the barn with Steven and Amethyst. There was no way he’d let Steven go through that experience. Even if that meant he’d have to live through it again.


	9. Revelations At The Moonbase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot finds the trackers and gives them to Steven before the ship takes off. Now, Steven, Twoie, and the others must keep their trick going as the Rubies take them to the moonbase. Twoie isn't convinced their plan will work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! New update for you guys today! I've got a couple of announcements that may seem repetitive to some of you as last week's update was crazy. 
> 
> First, the alternate ending chapters have been moved to their own story, "What If?" You can find the story by following the link provided in the previous chapter. 
> 
> Second, this chapter is the first part of the Bubbled Arc. If you are wondering what happened to the Jasper Arc, then you were one of the people affected by the relocation of the other chapters. The end of the Jasper Arc was updated last week, and you can find it by clicking the previous chapter button up above. Thanks to Dimonds456 and MandyKun, as they were the two who specifically requested Back To The Moon for a chapter. I hope you guys enjoy the little twists I've made to the canon!
> 
> Third, Steven didn't hear Jasper talk about Pink in the last chapter, so if you're confused about his reaction later in this chapter, that's why. Twoie covered his ears to prevent him from getting more trauma from the situation.
> 
> Let me know what you think of this chapter! Please?

Peridot was glad she was so meticulous with her inventions. As she and her friends quickly circled around the barn, the technician couldn’t stop worrying about Steven and Twoie. Twoie had seemed panicked, and Peridot wanted nothing more but to wrap him in a blanket and lock the barn door. A quick glance at Lapis and Bismuth made her believe that they were thinking something similar. Peridot didn’t comment, though, as they kept running. They were on a rapidly shrinking time-limit to get the trackers to Steven. Peridot glanced over at the other group and noticed four of the rubies were in front of them. One was angrily explaining something, and Amethyst was slowly backing away. Taking advantage of the distraction, Peridot ran into the barn. She rushed over to the far corner to a small row of filing cabinets. “Lapis, Bismuth. How much time do I have?” She didn’t look as she pulled open a drawer and rummaged through it. The technician pulled the small tracker pad out and started looking for the trackers.

“Not long, Amethyst just walked out shaped as Jasper.” Peridot grimaced at Lapis’s words. There! One of the trackers, where was the other? “Steven just looked over here. I think our time’s almost up. You have everything?”

Peridot was about to curse when she saw the second tracker. “Oh, thank stars!” She rushed over to Lapis and shoved the three items into her hands. “It’s all water-proof. Use your water powers to float everything over to them. That’ll probably be easier for Steven to see while still keeping it secret from the rubies.” Lapis nodded and summoned a small stream of water. She wrapped the items in them and directed it over to Steven, who eyes flicked over to them. Bismuth pointed at the stream of water floating over, and Steven’s eyes shined with relief. He subtly held his hands out behind him, and Lapis let go of the water once the devices were in the kid’s hands.

The water gem watched as the rubies fawned over ‘Jasper’ and loaded their friends onto the ship. “Do you really think they’ll be okay?” Bismuth and Peridot turned to look at Lapis. It was hard for Lapis, knowing that something could happen to Steven or Twoie, and she wouldn’t be able to help.

Bismuth set a comforting hand on Lapis’s shoulder as they watched the ship take off. “I trust that Peridot’s tracker will help if things go wrong.” Bismuth wanted to reassure her, and with a glance at the worried technician beside her, Peridot as well. But she hesitated. She thought of the missions she had overseen or had been a part of during the rebellion. Moments where she had been reassured by Rose or another gem that things would be fine. That friends, who never came back, would be okay. Of muted celebrations, marked by the loss of a friend or loved one. “We’ve just gotta trust that they’ll look out for each other. They’ll be back.” Bismuth couldn’t imagine the earth without any of them.

* * *

Twoie was filled with nervous energy. It didn’t matter that he and Steven had trackers. He was still worried about the outcome of their mission. The young man watched as his brother secretly stuck the tracker on his chest, under the guise of a scratch. That alleviated some of Twoie’s worry, but he couldn’t help it. He was still worried about the possibility of Steven getting pulled out to space. Twoie sighed as he placed his tracker on the back of his neck; his iconic varsity jacket hid it from view. They seemed sticky enough, and knowing Peridot, they’d stay on during a fight, but Twoie’s thoughts were plagued with doubt. The young man turned his attention back to Steven and the gems. They were all sitting against the ship's wall, listening to Steven as he told them the plan. The tracker pad was safely stored in Pearl’s gem, so now they just had to wait. And waiting was agonizing. Twoie looked over at Eyeball. The ruby was diligently working on something, but she kept glancing over at them. It really creeped him out.

“What are you looking at, earthling?” Eyeball growled at him. Twoie and the others froze up as all of the rubies stared at him.

The young man quickly held his hands up. “Nothing! I-I’m just… curious!” Twoie flashed them a nervous smile. “I -uh, have never seen anything like this before, so I was, you know, curious.” Twoie felt himself sweat as Eyeball narrowed her eye at him.

‘Jasper’ turned around in her chair. “Well, you should keep your eyes to yourself! Uh-, prisoner!” Amethyst looked around nervously, hoping her insult would be enough to calm the others down. Luckily, the rubies all started laughing and praising “Jasper” for her remark. They went back to work, and the Crystal Gems sighed in relief.

“Is that the one that tried to hurt you?” Pearl whispered as Twoie slumped against the wall.

Twoie sighed and rubbed his face in stress. “Yeah.” He kept his voice low in case one of the rubies were trying to listen. “That’s just one of the things she’s done. Sorry about starting a scene.” He looked over and saw the concern in his family’s eyes. “I just-, I don’t like being around her.”

Steven scooched closer to his brother and leaned against him. “We’ll get through this. We’ll get to the moonbase, get the rubies to leave, and then go home.” Twoie looked down at his brother. Steven was staring at him with a soft smile on his face. “Then, we’ll make dinner and watch a movie with Dad. You just gotta believe that everything will be fine.” Twoie wanted to believe Steven. He really did. But looking at the screen and seeing they were arriving at the moonbase, Twoie felt nothing but fear.

Everyone got up when the ship docked inside the base. “Come on, prisoners. We’re getting out.” Doc kept an eye on them as they got up, and soon everyone was standing outside of the ship.

Eyeball lit up her ruby like a flashlight and looked around. The moonbase was old, and she could see the small bits of dust that they had brought with them floating in the illuminated air. What a shame this base was. Everything that it could’ve been was wasted. “Look at this place. Frozen in time… In Era 1 phase.” Eyeball looked solemnly up at the mural of Pink Diamond. “It was a tragedy what had happened to her.” She could remember walking around on earth in the past. Remember standing outside of Pink’s palanquin with her team as they waited for their next assignment. Pink Diamond liked addressing the gems herself. It was something that the ruby had really enjoyed when she worked under her.

“Who was that, anyway?” Leggy looked at Eyeball in confusion. It was a pretty lady, but she had never seen her before. Was she a revered soldier or an elite gem? She jumped in surprise when Eyeball glared at her.

“Were you made yesterday?” Eyeball couldn’t believe it. The sadness inside her was overcome with anger. How did she not know? Even though she was gone, Pink Diamond was still an essential part of their history. “That was Pink Diamond.” As the gem turned to face Jasper, she noticed the tall human flinch and the small human hug the taller’s hand. How did the humans know about Pink Diamond? Did the prisoners talk about her with them? Eyeball shrugged it off. Who cared about the humans? They were just weak organic life. “Jasper. Maybe it’s best if you explain.”

“Who, me?” Amethyst sweated as she tried to recall everything that Twoie had told her. She knew Pink Diamond was the colonizer of Earth, but she didn’t trust herself to not blurt out something about Rose by accident. “No! No-, uh, you do it. I’m like, still too… messed up about it?” The disguised gem sighed in relief when Eyeball comforted her and took over the explanation.

Eyeball looked over at Doc and gestured for the others to follow as they began climbing the stairs. “Earth was Pink Diamond’s colony. Everything was going smoothly at first.” Navy, Leggy, and Steven were enraptured as they listened to Eyeball tell her story. “The Kindergartens were incubating their first soldiers. Big, warm pieces of quartz, like this mountain over here,” Eyeball looked up at ‘Jasper’ in admiration, “were being created from its rich minerals with great success.” Twoie glanced away in discomfort. He didn’t like hearing the gems praise the earth colony. It made him sick to his stomach. “Then, bam! One of Pink Diamond’s own quartz soldiers started a rebellion and took it too far.” None of the rubies noticed the slight glares that Pearl and Garnet were giving them. Steven noticed, though, and hoped that they wouldn’t accidentally say anything out of anger. “Where were you when it happened?” Eyeball and the rubies looked up at Amethyst.

Amethyst startled when they turned to her and looked away in discomfort. Luckily, the rubies took her reaction as grief. “I understand. It can be hard to talk about.” Eyeball took over the conversation again. “Thousands of years, and I still remember it like it was yesterday.” At Navy and Leggy’s gasp of surprise, Eyeball turned to face them. “That’s right. I was there when it happened. When Rose Quartz shattered Pink Diamond.” Steven’s eyes widened. He knew what his mom did, but he never really thought of how affected the Homeworld gems would be. He could see the grief in Eyeball’s eye and the sadness that radiated from the other rubies. Steven looked up at his family. Pearl was shaking, Garnet was looking away, and Twoie? Twoie looked sick. His older brother was covering his mouth with his hands, looking like he was about to throw up. Steven himself felt sick. Was this why Twoie always reacted badly when gems praised Mom? Knowing that she had caused grief to gems by faking her death felt wrong. And Twoie had gone through this for a lot longer than Steven had. It was sickening to know that apparently, there was an unknown number of gems that grieved his mom’s ‘death’ and were probably still grieving. Steven shook his head. He didn’t want to think about that anymore.

“We’ve got a problem.” Everyone looked up as Doc appeared at the top of the stairs. She gestured for everyone to follow her, and the group silently entered the communications room. “The panel’s broken. The communicator’s gone. There’s no way to contact Yellow Diamond from this hub.” Doc huffed as she looked over the rubble that used to be the panel.

While the rubies talked about what to do next, Amethyst flashed a worried look at Steven and Twoie. She could feel her powers waning. She wouldn’t be able to hold her form much longer. With a quiet gasp, Amethyst shifted back into her original form. Steven looked around worriedly for something to distract the rubies with, but Amethyst shifted back into Jasper again just as the rubies turned to her. What did they say? Have to go to Homeworld? “I can’t!” Amethyst shook slightly as the Eyeball ran up to her in concern. Oops, she hadn’t meant to talk that loud. “You know what? You know me!” Amethyst patted Eyeball on the head as she strained to hold her form. Just a little longer. “Do me a favor, and go back home and file the report for me. I’m trusting you, soldier.”

Eyeball was ecstatic as she looked up at ‘Jasper.’ She admired Jasper with every mineral in her gem. To be trusted with her work was such an honor! “Wow. Of course!” She turned to the others, not even hiding her gleeful expression.

While the rubies were distracted, Twoie quickly scooted up to Amethyst. “Take a quick break. I’ll distract them.” Amethyst nodded, and Twoie quickly walked over to the rubies. He made sure he was standing in front of them, so when Amethyst dropped her disguise, the rubies didn’t see it. “Did you guys check through all of the rubble? What if the communicator is in here?” The rubies looked at one another, then back to Twoie.

“I mean, it’s possible.” Navy shrugged as she kicked one of the stones with her foot. She knelt down and picked up a couple of the rocks. “I’m pretty sure it’s not.”

Eyeball glared at Twoie. No way would she allow this dumb human to take away the trust that Jasper had placed in her. “We’re going back to the ship, and you can’t stop us.” Amethyst noticed the hostility in her voice and quickly shifted back. It wasn’t nearly enough time to recharge, but it would have to do for now. The rubies turned back around and led the way down the stairs.

Twoie and Steven looked at each other nervously as they walked. It was looking more and more likely that they would get caught. But there wasn’t much to distract the rubies with on the moonbase. At the base of the stairs, the rubies said goodbye and boarded the ship. Amethyst waved as the door closed before dropping her disguise in relief. “Oh, thank stars.”

The purple gem ran over to them but paused when Twoie shook his head in a panic. “The door is going to open any second, and they’ll see you! Quick hide!” Amethyst flinched but quickly hid behind Garnet and Pearl. Twoie bit his lip in horror when he realized there was no place to hide with the stairs down. He could only hope that the rubies wouldn’t notice.

The door opened up again, and Doc looked over at them. “Hey, do you need a ride back to earth? I could sit on your lap if you…” She looked around in confusion. “Where did Jasper go?”

Twoie went to rub the back of his neck in nervousness and flinched when he felt the tracker there. “Oh, uh-, she’s um…” Twoie looked behind himself and saw the Pink Diamond mural. “Paying respects!” He winced at how loud he said that. “To uh- Pink Diamond.”

Doc’s eyes widened in surprise, and she quickly raised her hands in surrender. “My bad! Well, the ship’s ready to go, so I’ll give her a minute.” She quickly ducked back inside.

Everyone sighed in relief as the door closed again. “What do we do? We can’t get to earth without the ship, but I don’t think I can make another trip without changing back.” Amethyst yell-whispered.

Garnet fixed her glasses as she looked over at the ship. “I don’t think we have a choice. It’s the only way we can get back. We’ll do our best to distract them if you think you need to shift, but we can’t do anything else.” Amethyst nodded and shifted back into Jasper. She could feel the strain, even with the small break, and she hoped that everything would work. The door opened up again, and this time all of the rubies were peeking out at them.

“Alright. I’m ready to head out.” Amethyst led the way as they boarded the ship. She was trying her best not to let the strain show on her face. The rubies swarmed her, trying to cheer her up, and all Amethyst could think was, ‘This isn’t going to work.’ What else could she do, though? She wouldn’t be able to hold her form much longer, but if she stayed on the ship, she would expose them for sure. As she turned back and saw the door was still open, an idea came to her. Amethyst raised her hands up in a placating manner. “You know what? I’m going to stay here and see if I can find anything that may be useful to take back to earth.” The rubies and her family stared at her in surprise. “Drop the prisoners off at the barn, that’s where I’ve been watching them, and then I’ll head back down there once I’ve searched here.”

Eyeball looked back and forth between her and the prisoners. “But, who will watch them without you?”

Amethyst chuckled stiffly. “They can’t get off the earth. Just being there is enough to keep them captive. I trust you guys to deliver them back and then fill out that Homeworld report.” Eyeball glared at the prisoners but nodded at ‘Jasper.’

Doc and the other rubies quickly assembled around Amethyst. As the leader of the ruby squad, Doc started a salute. “It was an honor to work with Jasper. Be assured that we will follow your orders completely. I wish you success in your mission.” The other rubies saluted as well, and Amethyst struggled to keep the grin on her face as she placed her hands on her waist.

“At ease, soldiers.” Amethyst turned around, almost making it to the walkway, when she felt the last of her control slip. With a soft “eep,” Amethyst shifted back into her usual form.


	10. In The Depths Of Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The jig is up. The rubies have discovered that the Crystal Gems were tricking them, and a fight begins. Twoie tried his best to prevent history from repeating itself, but he never could've predicted this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! How are you all doing? I'm so close to Winter Break, and I am so excited! I'll still be updating once a week even when it's break time because I've got some studying to do, and I want to work on some other things. Mainly some stuff for the upcoming anniversary of when I published the first chapter of Templeschool. I've got some time, as that was in January, but want to get started ahead of time. 
> 
> The weirdness with moving the alternate ending chapters to their own story should finally be resolved now. All comments starting from this chapter onward will belong to their respective chapter, and the page count will actually increase. Just in case you guys missed it, I updated the end of the Jasper arc two weeks ago, which can be found in chapter 8, and the beginning of the Bubbled Arc last week (Back to the Moon), which can be found in chapter 9.
> 
> Special thanks to Dimonds456, RoxasTsuna_TMNT, and MandyKun for requesting Bubbled! And I put in a little nod to a future request by RoxasTsuna for another museum trip. That will happen, I promise.
> 
> Buckle up everyone! This is gonna be rough! XD

“What? We’ve been tricked? AGAIN?” Doc snarled as the other rubies turned to glare at the prisoners. The rubies were furious, but none were as enraged as Eyeball.

Eyeball couldn’t believe it! She should’ve known that the prisoners were tricking them after they did it before. Her eye narrowed on Twoie. It was all his fault, wasn’t it? He was the human who convinced them that Jasper was in space. He was probably the one to convince the other gems to trick them again! Eyeball growled and summoned her chisel knife. She was done with letting this stupid human get the best of her. She was a ruby soldier! She would not be bested by some dumb organic! With a cry of rage, Eyeball charged Twoie, knife raised in the air. The young man quickly jumped out of the way, leaving the charging ruby to ram into the controls. The young man gasped as he realized that the knife had stabbed through the paneling, sparks flying in the air. Eyeball paid little attention as she pulled her knife out and charged at Twoie again.

Twoie summoned his shield, blocking the blow. “We need to get out of here! We’re gonna damage the ship!” Amethyst darted out of the ship, Doc growling as she chased after. At the same time, the remaining rubies focused on Garnet, Pearl, and Steven.

“Let’s go!” Pearl shouted as she grabbed Steven. Everyone rushed out of the ship, leaving only Twoie and Eyeball. Twoie shoved his opponent back with his shield before running out of the ship as well. He heard the ruby’s enraged scream from behind as he caught up to his family.

Doc looked enraged as the rubies lined up beside her. “RUBIES ASSEMBLE!” All five rubies moved into formation, fusing into one large ruby soldier. During the fusion, Twoie shoved Steven into Amethyst’s arms and ran for the bay doors. Amethyst tightened her hold on Steven, and the gems waited with bated breath as the fusion was completed. The large ruby glared at the four figures. “We won’t let you trick us again!”

“HEY! RUBIES!” The soldier turned around, eyes narrowed on the young man standing by the door panel. “Fighting’s not allowed inside the moonbase. Why don’t you take it outside?” He slammed his hand onto the panel, and the doors opened. Everyone could feel the pressure from the vacuum of space. The ruby soldier tried to keep a grip on the floor, but she was pulled backward, barely managing to grip the edge of the base walls. Pearl and Garnet nodded at each other. They were so close to finishing this. 

“You can’t get rid of us that easily!” The ruby fusion strained to keep herself in the base. She glared down at Twoie. One wrong move would send her flying out, and she still wanted revenge. A flash of light made both of them look at the others. Twoie grinned as he saw Sardonyx pull back her hammer. They were so close to being done! Just one hit, and he wouldn’t have to worry about this moment ever again.

Sardonyx flashed a peace sign as she slammed the other fusion with her hammer. The rubies immediately unfused from the shock and pain. Eyeball managed to grip the floor for a moment before getting caught in the pull. While the other rubies went barreling out into space, Eyeball blindly reached out for the closest thing as she went airborne. She managed to grab Twoie’s jacket sleeve, forcing Twoie to brace against the panel wall. She glared at him. “This is your fault! Everything was your fault!” She took a chance and let go of his jacket with her right hand. Twoie’s eyes widened when the ruby brought it to her eye and summoned her chisel knife. “You’ll pay for this!”

Everything felt like it was occurring in slow motion. Steven, Amethyst, and Sardonyx screamed as Eyeball swung the knife. Steven shoved Amethyst’s hands off him and lunged for his brother. At the same time, Twoie let go of the panel to shove the ruby off. That one action was enough to get caught in the pull of the rushing air. Eyeball, Twoie, and Steven were all sucked out into the depths of space.

* * *

This couldn’t be happening. Twoie saw the glint of her chisel knife and had instinctually reacted. That was his mistake. The second he had let go, Twoie had known he was doomed to repeat his past. He shoved Eyeball off and managed to grip the edge of the door. However, something heavy slammed into him, and they all went flying out into space. Luckily, Twoie’s reflexes had improved during the war. He immediately created a large bubble before finally looking at what hit him. His eyes widened. “Steven?!” The kid didn’t respond, shakily tightening his grip on his brother.

Twoie looked up and saw the moon base fading away in the distance. This really couldn’t be happening. He had tried so hard to prevent Steven from being sent into space, and somehow they had wound up here anyway. Twoie clamped down on his panic. There was nothing he could do about it now, and he knew he needed to stay calm. Twoie sighed and looked down at his little brother. At least they had the trackers, and Steven wasn’t experiencing this alone. Things could still turn out okay in the end. That helped alleviate some of his stress. Pearl had the tracker pad, and the gems had the ship. They’d be fine. For now, he needed to focus on his brother. Twoie gently brushed his hand through Steven’s hair as he hugged him close. “I’m okay, Steven. Everything will be okay.”

Steven nodded against his chest, sniffling quietly. “I’m sorry!” Twoie believed him. He was pretty sure Steven was moving before the kid even realized what he was doing. “I was so scared! I saw Eyeball try to hurt you, and I just-!”

“It’s okay, Steven.” Twoie set his chin on top of Steven’s head. “I’m upset that you ran after me, but I understand why you did it.” He sighed and looked around. The stars were beautiful. Twoie had never noticed that the first time this happened. The moon was a tiny dot now, and the earth was becoming one as well. He wondered if the gems had already started the ship. “You know, this is a lot more relaxing than I thought it would be.”

Steven finally broke the hug to stare at him incredulously. “I thought you were scared of this happening? How are you so calm?”

Twoie shrugged as he turned his attention back to his brother. “I was, but I think it was scarier when I was alone, and I didn’t know if I would ever be found.” Some of his anxiety about the situation was still there, but he was becoming increasingly calm. “Maybe it’s because I’ve been through so much lately, but this doesn’t seem that bad anymore. Look around you.” Steven looked at the constellation that Twoie pointed to. “We have trackers, and we have each other. The rubies are gone, too. Out of everything we’ve dealt with, this isn’t that bad.”

Steven wiped at his eyes as he took in the vastness of space. There were so many glittering stars, and he could see asteroids in the distance. It was beautiful. Steven never thought he’d see space like this. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It is pretty.” Some of Steven’s tension eased, and he shifted in the bubble, so he was sitting next to Twoie. The two quietly watched the stars together as the bubble drifted through space. Steven didn’t want to disturb the small amount of peace they’d found, but he wanted to talk. It was a little… too quiet. But he didn’t want to talk about anything stressful either. He saw a planet in the distance, noting the sense of familiarity it gave him. He’d seen it before, but where? The kid’s eyes lit up as he finally remembered. “Oh, we should go to the museum again! And maybe this time we can bring Dad and the gems!”

Twoie lightly coughed into his hand before smiling at Steven. How long ago was that? Stars, that was before everything went wrong. They had so much fun together. “Yeah. I’ll plan that when we get home. I know Bismuth and Peridot will be so excited. And probably Pearl, too.” Twoie snickered as he thought of the three of them fawning over the exhibits. “Peridot will want to see all of the old technology, Bismuth would want to see the new tech, and Pearl will…” Twoie paused. She’d seen a lot of history, right? Yeah, that was right. “Peal will probably be so happy about us learning while telling us about her experiences.”

Steven laughed softly as he leaned tiredly against his brother. That would be a lot of fun. The kid coughed, covering it with his sleeve. “That sounds like fun.” He wanted to talk more, but he felt really dizzy for a moment. Steven shook his head, hoping to get rid of the feeling, but he immediately regretted it.

“You okay, Steven?” Twoie questioningly looked down at his brother.

The kid was now leaning forward, holding his head in his hands. “Yeah.” Steven curled up a little tighter. “I just got dizzy for a second.”

Twoie immediately sat up straight. Neither he nor Steven got motion sick or airsick, and they weren’t spinning. He looked out into the distance. It was still just an expanse of space. The gems should’ve been here by now in the stolen Red Eye. No, wait, it was the Roaming Eye. Twoie became consciously aware of his increasing heart rate. He felt a pinch in his chest and coughed into his hand. What was going on? Twoie was confused. He didn’t remember something like this happening in his time, or at least he didn’t think so. Then, he froze. Coughing, dizziness, and he was starting to mix things up. ‘This is bad,’ Twoie thought as he tried to quell his rising panic. He couldn’t afford to freak out. Not with so little air left.

One glance at Steven told Twoie that his brother had no idea. Good, he didn’t want to scare him. Twoie double-checked that the ship wasn’t around before turning to Steven. He knew what he had to do. “Hey, Steven. Could you make a bubble that covers mine?”

Steven looked at him, tilting his head curiously. “Probably? My control has gotten a lot better recently. Why do you ask?”

“Oh-! I, uh, figured it’d be a good idea since I floated through an asteroid field in my time. Our bubble will be really strong if we layer it.” Twoie smiled, hoping his lie would work. Thankfully, it did. Steven nodded and concentrated on creating a bubble that would overlay Twoie’s with little space in between. The pink bubble started from the bottom and rapidly grew over Twoie’s bubble.

“There we go!” Steven cheered as he looked up at Twoie. He was surprised to see that his brother looked ready to cry. “Twoie?”

Twoie hugged his brother tightly. He would never be ready, but he needed to do this. For Steven. He pulled away from the hug and smiled at his brother. Without another word, he created a small bubble around himself.

Steven jumped in surprise when Twoie bubbled himself. “Twoie? What are you doing? Why’d you make such a small bubble?” He was concerned for his brother. Twoie was acting weird, and the kid’s anxiety spiked as his brother coughed. Why was Twoie coughing so much? And why did Steven want to cough now? Was it getting harder to-?! “Twoie! Wait!” Steven banged his fists on Twoie’s bubble. “I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself for me! Why are you doing this?”

“Because I love you.” Twoie quietly watched as Steven stopped pounded the bubble. His brother looked heartbroken. He wanted to hug him so badly, but he needed to stay in the bubble. Otherwise, he’d just be using up his brother’s air. “You’re my little brother. If I can protect you, then I will. Whatever it takes to make sure you live.”

“But you’ll suffocate!” Steven couldn’t believe this was happening. After everything they’d been through, he would lose his brother like this. “You’re always hurting yourself for me, and I hate it!” The kid glared at his brother, but the effect was lost due to the tears streaming down his cheeks. “I want you to live too! There’s still so much we need to do, and you still need to go home!” Steven hated the sad smile that Twoie flashed him. “You still need to take us to the museum, and you promised we’d have a brother’s day, and we still need to have a family day with Mom and Doug and Connie!” He didn’t want to stay in this stupid bubble, watching his brother die in front of him. Steven wanted to be back on this ship, chatting with his family about a successful mission. “What about the gems? They should be here soon!”

Twoie shook his head. “They should’ve been here already, and they aren’t. Something must’ve happened, and I don’t know when they’ll arrive.” The elder Universe leaned forward, placing his hand against the wall of the bubble. “I’m sorry, Sunshine. I can’t take that chance. Not at your expense.”

Steven placed his hand on the bubble at the same place his brother did. There was nothing he could do to stop Twoie from doing this. “Why does this always happen to us?” So many bad things had happened to Twoie and Steven, and the kid didn’t understand why. Even now, barely illuminated by the glow of the bubble, Steven could see the fangs that remained from Twoie’s corruption as his brother chuckled bitterly. Could see the slight scarring on his cheeks from the horns. “It seems like no matter what we do, things always turn out bad.”

Twoie gently shook his head. “I don’t know why. We even came up with a backup plan, and things still went wrong.” The young man covered his mouth as coughs wracked his body.

When the coughs stopped, Steven shifted in the bubble, sitting as close to Twoie as possible. He could see that his brother’s breathing was becoming haggard. The kid scanned the environment around them, hoping to see the ship. But there was only space. Steven slumped against the bubble wall. He could feel the air getting thin in his bubble as well. “I love you, Starbright.” The kid curled in on himself, coughing slightly.

Twoie softly replied, “Love you too, Sunshine.” With the remaining oxygen being so low, Steven and Twoie opted to sit silently in the bubble. Steven couldn’t help watching his brother, desperate for every sign that he showed he was still alive. He watched every coughing fit. He watched as Twoie’s eyes closed and he fell asleep. And he was still watching Twoie when a bright light illuminated their bubble, and a tractor beam pulled them into the Roaming Eye.


	11. A Close Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie wakes up on the Roaming Eye. The gems find out what happened to the brothers in space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, this was harder to write than I thought. This chapter is mainly just details on Twoie's plan and leading into the family get-together. I threw in a scolding for you, Dimonds456, since you gave Twoie one in the comments. XD
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy! I probably won't update next week because of Christmas, so I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Twoie wasn’t sure what was going on. He felt tired but warm, and his arm was numb. Where was he? Slowly, Twoie opened his eyes, only to immediately shut them again. It was so bright. He heard a gasp off to his side, so he forced his eyes open again. Pearl was fluttering her hand at someone on his opposite side. “He’s awake! Oh my stars, he’s awake!” Twoie wondered who she was talking to since Amethyst was beside her. He turned to look, noticing Garnet staring at him with her glasses gone and tears in her eyes. Where was Steven?

Amethyst noticed the flash of panic in his eyes and pointed to his side. “Steven’s fine. He’s right next to you.” That calmed him immensely. Twoie shifted lightly and looked towards his arm. That explained a lot. For some reason, he was lying inside a thick sleeping bag, with his brother sleeping beside him. The kid was cuddling against his side, which explained why his arm was asleep.

“It was scary finding you two.” Twoie turned to Garnet. The permafusion spoke softly, but the young man could hear the slight waver in her voice. “Steven was clinging to you and was completely despondent when we brought you both aboard. The only thing that got a reaction out of him was when we tried to separate you two.” Amethyst and Pearl flinched at the reminder.

Pearl sniffled while twisting her ribbon in her hand. “My stars, he was so panicked when I tried to pull him away so we could check you both over. He was scared you had died, and-!” Amethyst placed a hand on the prim gem’s shoulder when she started sobbing again. “I-I was so s-sure you were dead when Steven d-dropped his bubble!”

Twoie blinked in confusion. Steven’s bubble? Amethyst scooted forward so she could hug Pearl, though her gaze remained on him. “We were going to have you guys share the same sleeping bag anyway since you two were freezing.” Amethyst smiled fondly at Steven before turning back to Twoie with a concerned look. ”What happened out there?” Twoie kept his gaze on Steven. “Seriously, Twoie. We don’t know what happened after you two were sucked into space. All we know is that between then and us finding you,” Amethyst’s voice rose a pitch, “something knocked you unconscious and scared Steven.”

It was quiet on the ship. Twoie briefly wondered how long he was out. He wondered how long Steven waited before the gems found them. “I had no idea if you guys were coming.” The gems frowned at him. “I figured when I didn’t see the ship flying towards us soon after we were pulled into space that the ship was damaged, and you guys couldn’t leave until it was fixed. So, I distracted Steven and kept him cheerful while we floated.” Twoie shivered in fear. Ugh, this was just another thing he’d have to bring up to his therapist, wasn’t it… “It had been a while, and then Steven said he got dizzy for a moment. That didn’t make sense, though. Why would he be dizzy when the bubble wasn’t spinning?” The young man ignored the gasps from his family. “I realized we were running out of air. It took a long time when this happened to me, but there were two of us this time. We were both breathing from the same oxygen supply, and I knew we didn’t have much left.” Twoie finally looked at the gems. Amethyst was hugging Pearl tightly, while the taller gem had her hands covering her mouth. Garnet was clenching her fists tightly in her lap.

“We had enough air for one person to last a while, but not for both of us. So I tricked Steven into making his own bubble around mine, and then I made a tiny bubble around myself.” Twoie’s voice never wavered as he spoke about his plan. “My bubble was thick enough that Steven’s air wouldn’t go through. I needed to make sure the remaining air was for Steven.” Twoie sighed and gently brushed a hand through his younger brother’s hair. “I had to make sure Steven would survive.”

“Didn’t we just go over this?” Twoie jumped as Amethyst raised her voice at him. She was glaring at him with tears in her eyes. “How many times do we have to tell you that you matter too? How many times until you stop sacrificing yourself for us? We don’t want to see you get hurt! We don’t want to see you die!” Amethyst grabbed the edge of the sleeping bag tightly. “You need to stop doing reckless things and hurting us in the process.”

Twoie glared at her. How dare she think he did this recklessly? Forgetting about Steven, Twoie pushed himself into a sitting position. “I did think about this! I thought hard about what to do, Amethyst, and I don’t appreciate you yelling at me for it!” He gestured to the ship’s door. “I only made that plan because we were starting to get sick, and you guys still weren’t there. I double-checked to make sure that I couldn’t see the ship before enacting that plan. Which saved both of our lives!” The purple gem flinched like she had been struck.

Garnet placed a hand on Twoie’s shoulder to calm him. “What do you mean by that?”

Twoie took a deep breath to calm down. There was no point in shouting. Everything had turned out okay in the end; that was what mattered. Steven was safe. They were both safe. “I was the one who made the bubble when we were shot into space. I knew that if we both suffocated in that bubble, my bubble would pop, and we would die immediately.” The gems looked horrified at the thought that both of them could’ve died. “However, by isolating myself and tricking Steven into making a bubble, I could keep him safe. I don’t know how long I was unconscious, but I know you guys wouldn’t have made it. It sounds like my bubbles had already popped when you found us.” The gems flinched. “The only reason we survived is because of the bubble I made Steven put up. I thought everything out and decided on the plan that would make sure my brother survived.”

“Twoie…” The elder Universe startled at the new voice. He turned to see Steven, awake and looking at him with wide, teary eyes. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” Steven lunged forward and hugged him tightly. “When your bubbles popped, I thought you had died! I thought you had left me alone!”

Twoie gently shushed him, resuming his comforting gesture of brushing his hands through the kid’s hair. “I’m sorry, Sunshine. I couldn’t think of any other way to protect you. I know that was scary, and I’m sorry you had to deal with that.” The young man had a feeling that his brother wouldn’t be leaving his side for a while. Just like he did after Twoie was uncorrupted. “I’m not going to leave you. Not like that, I promise.”

Beeping from the control dock interrupted them, and Garnet got up to check on the ship. “Looks like we’re just about ready to land.” The permafusion smiled as she gestured for everyone to sit down. “We’ll be landing on earth in a couple of minutes.” Twoie, Steven, and Amethyst sat close together while Pearl and Garnet sat in the chairs. “I’m landing us at the beach house first, then Amethyst and I will go tell the others at the barn about what happened.”

The ship barely stirred up the sand as it landed on the beach. Everyone was grateful to be back on earth, and some of the tension eased immediately as the ship door opened up. “Twoie? Steven?” The brothers perked up at their names, and they rushed outside to see their dad running for them. Greg scooped both of his sons into a hug, sighing in relief. “I was so worried about you guys! When neither of you came back, I went to the barn, and Bismuth said you guys were in space!” Greg pulled back to look over his sons. His heart sank as he noted Twoie’s exhaustion and Steven’s red, puffy eyes. “Oh, no. Something bad happened, didn’t it…”

Twoie nodded as he picked Steven up and walked for the house. That was another red flag. Both of his sons were listless. Pearl walked up to Greg and gestured for him to follow. The elder man frowned as the red ship his family came from flew off, but he followed everyone back inside. “Twoie, why don’t you and Steven go to bed. I’ll inform Greg about the incident with the rubies.” Twoie opened his mouth to protest, then sighed and nodded in agreement. The two boys hugged their dad again before Twoie carried his brother up the stairs. Oh, yeah. Greg knew something had gone majorly wrong for both of his sons to be that quiet.

When Pearl was sure they were gone, she turned to her friend. ”There was an incident in space where Twoie and Steven almost died.” Greg flinched. He looked back at the stairs and wished for the house’s old design, where he could see his sons in their bedroom from the living room. “Everything is okay now, but they’re shaken up from the ordeal. I can fill you in on the details in a little bit.” Pearl walked into the kitchen and placed a kettle on the stove. “I think we’ll need some tea first, or maybe a coffee for you.” Greg gratefully nodded at her. A hot coffee sounded great right now. “Alright, then! And after I make our drinks, we can quietly walk up to Steven’s room and watch them sleep.” Pearl softly laughed as she grabbed some instant coffee and a teabag from the cupboard. “I used to do it all the time when Steven was younger. Trust me, they won’t wake up even if we chat quietly while we watch them.”

Greg chuckled as he walked towards the front door. “That honestly sounds great. Give me a moment, and I’ll join you upstairs. I just need to make a quick phone call.” The older man walked back outside and pressed the speed dial button. At the sound of the phone being answered, Greg smiled. “Hey, Doug! I’m sorry to be calling you so late. Things have been pretty crazy around here, and I think we could do with some family time. Why don’t we meet up at the lake in a couple of days for a family get-together?”


	12. Man On A Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg Universe had a surprise for his sons. He would pull out all of the stops to make them happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year! I'm so relieved 2020 is over, and I'm looking forward to a better year. Do you guys have any New Year's Resolutions? I want to write more fanfiction, and be more confident when I talk to others (I'm pretty shy, lol).
> 
> Today's chapter is a bit on the short side, but I forgot that New Year's was on a weekend, and I didn't have the time to write like I wanted to. The next chapter will probably be pretty long anyway, so that can act as a trade-off for this chapter's length. Let me know what you guys think! I hope you all enjoy it! :D

Greg Universe was a man on a mission. He had woken up early, much earlier than he was used to, but it would be worth it. Anything he did for his sons was always worth it. The father was thankful his room had a front door that led straight to the bottom of the porch stairs. It meant he didn’t have to worry about accidentally waking his sons during the surprise. Greg pulled his phone out and texted Doug Maheswaran. “Well, Greg…” The older man secured his phone in the zipper pocket of the jacket he was wearing. “You’ve been meaning to get more exercise anyway.” Greg chuckled as he jogged away from the beach house and towards the car wash.

He was out of breath by the time he arrived, leaning tiredly on the side of the building. “Thank goodness… I can drive back…” The older man walked inside and opened up the garage with a grin. There, sparkling like new, was a silver Dondai Supremo. Greg proudly patted the hood of the car. He’d been thinking about getting a new car but had waited while the gems were renovating the house. Greg wasn’t even sure why he waited; the house had barely made a dent in his money. So, he had finally made his decision to buy a car. And what a beauty it was. Greg had always wanted a Dondai Supremo. It was from the era of frosted tips, mood rings, and slap bracelets! Front-wheel suspension, tons of ponies, and his favorite feature! Greg pulled a tape off the garage shelf before opening up the front door. There in all it’s glory, was a tape deck. Greg grinned as he turned the car on and pushed a tape into the tape deck. This car was a dream come true. The older man drove the car out, pulled the garage shutter down, and drove off to the beach house.

It didn’t take long for Greg to reach the house. As quietly as he could, the man parked the Dondai beside his van. He wanted to make sure everything went perfectly. Greg entered his room and checked the clock. _6 am._ Perfect! Now all he had to do was wake up his sons. The father made his way into the living room and smiled when he saw the gems were waiting for him. “Yo, Greg! You got the surprise ready yet?” Amethyst ran over to the window to look for the car.

Greg chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Yup! And you guys are packed as well?”

Pearl nodded as she pointed at her gem. “I’ve got a couple of things stored in my gem for us. Plates, silverware, cups, and everything else we could possibly need to spend a couple of days in a lakeside cabin.”

Garnet shook her head fondly as Pearl listed off the items. No doubt Pearl had brought more supplies than they would actually need. Amethyst snickered from the front as she walked back over to the others. “What are you waiting for, man? Go and wake them up!” The purple gem gestured at the staircase, and Greg snickered quietly as he walked upstairs.

Steven’s room was dark when Greg walked in. The father sadly smiled as he saw two heads of hair asleep on the bed. Twoie was sleeping on his back while Steven used his brother’s shoulder as a pillow. Ever since his sons’ return from space, Steven refused to leave Twoie alone. Greg had immediately booked an emergency therapy appointment, but his son continued to follow his brother, even after the appointment. He hoped that this family trip would help Steven feel better. Greg gently brushed a hand through Twoie’s hair. His eldest son unconsciously leaned into his hand, and the father had to hold back a laugh at how cute it was. Twoie had been surprisingly okay with everything. The concerned father wasn’t sure whether it was because of therapy or bottling everything away again. He promised to keep an eye on his son just in case. He spent another minute watching his sons sleep before finally shaking Twoie’s shoulder.

Twoie groaned in annoyance but tiredly opened his eyes. “Dad?” The eldest son covered his mouth as he yawned. “What’s up?”

Greg smiled as he started shaking Steven’s shoulder. “I know it’s early, but I’ve got a surprise for you two.” He chuckled when Steven woke up the same way Twoie did. “You guys have to be awake to see it, though.”

Steven took a second to process, then jumped up with wide eyes. “A surprise? I’m awake! I wanna see it!”

Twoie and Greg laughed at the quick change in attitude. “Follow me, and I’ll show you!” Greg stood and led the way downstairs. Steven and Twoie greeted the gems, who excitedly greeted them back, before following their dad outside.

“No way, you bought the Dondai?” Twoie stared at his father in surprise while Steven ran down the porch stairs to get a closer look.

Greg laughed as he walked after his youngest. “I’m guessing this went a little differently in your time?”

The young man shook his head as he followed his father. “Actually, I think you bought this around the same time as well. I just didn’t realize you were thinking about it. In my time, I heard you talk about it a couple of times before you actually bought it.”

Greg patted the hood of the car. “Well, I actually wasn’t looking for a car yet, but I needed one for the second half of the surprise.” Twoie and Steven looked at their father, curiously.

“Second part? And why do you need a car if you have the van?” Steven pointed at the van, which was parked right beside the Dondai.

“Well, we can’t go on a family camping trip if I don’t have space for everyone in the van.” Greg gestured up at the gems, who were now standing on the porch. Twoie and Steven shared a look of surprise before turning back to their dad.

“Family camping trip?” Steven’s eyes were wide with excitement. “This will be so much fun!”

“Yup! So, you boys better go upstairs and pack really quick! We’re gonna meet up with the Maheswarans at the campgrounds, and check-in starts at ten.” Greg laughed when he saw his sons’ eyes become starry with joy.

“We’re camping with the Maheswarans?” Steven grabbed Twoie’s hand and tugged him towards the porch stairs. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Twoie laughed as he let himself get pulled away. Greg opened up the van and double-checked the supplies he was bringing. Fishing poles, extra blankets, bait, his suitcase… And he knew Pearl had the plates, sleeping bags, and whatever else would be useful for a lakeside campsite. Greg texted Doug and Priyanka that they were getting ready to leave and would hopefully meet them in a couple of hours before heading back to the house. Nothing would stop Greg from making this the best trip ever for his family.


	13. Family Camping Trip!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Universes and the Maheswarans arrive at the campsite. Connie reflects on her friendship with Twoie and gets some advice from her mom. By the end of the night, she realizes that her insecurities were causing her unnecessary worry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! I hope you're all doing well! School's started up for me and already I've been thrown into chaos. I have one class with four freaking tests. Since the first test is in two weeks, I won't be uploading a chapter next week. However, I have made this week's chapter pretty long and focused on character depth as compensation. 
> 
> I don’t know how many of you have noticed, but Connie usually doesn’t get a lot of storytime. This was mainly because she wasn’t in the episodes that I focused on. Still, she is an essential character in Steven’s and Twoie’s lives. I figured I should give Connie a reason why she hasn’t been involved often, and it needed to make sense with her character. Before and during Mindful Education, we see that Connie bottles her fears and tries not to address them, even with Steven. I know as an adult, I sometimes look back at my behavior as a kid and think, “Wow, thank stars, I don’t do that anymore.” Connie worries that Twoie will do the same, but with her. She worries that Twoie won’t like who she is as a kid because he prefers older Connie. It’s a little irrational, but insecurities work like that. They make us worry about it and find ways to make them rational. Steven is still the only friend we actively see her hang out with, besides the gems at this point. I figured she would still have some insecurities when it comes to her friendship with Steven. 
> 
> Also, I don’t know how many of you have read the comics. The Steven and the Crystal Gems mini-comic series is referenced in this chapter. If you haven’t read it, I suggest you do! It’s a really good story, and this chapter does have some spoilers, so here’s your spoiler warning. I do reveal the ending of the comic in this chapter. If you want to avoid the spoiler, I’ll have a bar with a warning before and after the section that reveals it. I made up a backstory for the gem since we don’t learn much about some of the canon corrupted gems. 
> 
> SPOILER WARNING FOR STEVEN AND THE CRYSTAL GEMS COMIC MINI-SERIES.

Connie Maheswaran took a deep breath of the fresh forest air. She and her family had already arrived at the cabin and were unloading their suitcases into the living room. The area was beautiful. She couldn’t wait to go exploring with Steven and Twoie! Her phone buzzed, making her pull it out, so she could check her new text message.

_Jam Bud: We’re almost there! Are you guys at the cabin or the Campsite’s office?_

Connie grinned widely as she texted out a reply.

_We’re at the cabin. Mom already checked us in, and she has the other key. She’ll give it to Mr. Greg when you guys get here._

“Mom!” The young girl ran over to her parents, stopping in front of them as they pulled out the last suitcase. “The Universes are almost here!” Connie grabbed the last suitcase and carried it to the living room.

Her mom smiled as she followed her daughter into the house. “I’m glad they made it alright.” Connie couldn’t wait to see them again. Although, she noted with a feeling of guilt, she was a little anxious to see Twoie. It had been a while since the young girl had seen Twoie, and though she texted both brothers, she mostly texted Steven. Connie knew Twoie was actually an older Steven, but that was what made him kinda intimidating. It was probably irrational, she was embarrassed to admit, but she worried about Twoie’s impression of her. Steven said that Twoie and her older self were close, so what if Twoie didn’t like who she was now that he was stuck with younger Connie? The girl sighed, setting the suitcase down in the living room.

Priyanka noticed her daughter’s sigh, so she lightly touched her shoulder. “Connie? Is something wrong?”

Connie thought about shaking her head and saying ‘no,’ but she was trying to be more open about her feelings with her mom. “Not really, it’s just…” She turned to face her mom. The young girl knew that Twoie and her mom were close. If anyone would be able to give Connie an honest opinion about Twoie, it’d be her. “Twoie’s been here for a while, and I haven’t really hung out with him.” She nervously rubbed her shoulder. “I may have been avoiding spending a lot of time with him because I don’t want him to think I’m too childish or immature.” Her mom looked at her in surprise, and Connie felt silly now. “Not that I don’t like him or think he would judge me!” She scrambled to clarify herself. “I know Twoie isn’t someone who judges people or anything like that! But when I see him, he usually hangs out with you or the other adults, and then I worry that he doesn’t want to hang out with me because I’m a kid. So, then I hang out more with Steven, which I like anyway since he’s my best friend.” Connie felt her face flush in embarrassment as she rambled on. “And I know he’s a great person because Steven always talks about him, and you like him, and he’s an older Steven, how can he not be, so I-!” She took a deep breath. “Sorry, I don’t know where I’m going with this anymore.”

Priyanka knelt beside her daughter and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Sweetheart, I’m glad you told me.” Connie nervously looked up at her. “It’s not silly to be worried about how Twoie would think of you. And let me put those worries to rest by telling you that Twoie would never judge you or think badly of you.” The doctor stood up and gestured to the front door. “When the Universes show up, I know that all of them will be happy to see you.” Connie nodded, feeling a little more confident now that she had talked with her mom. “Spend some time around Twoie, and you’ll see that he thinks of you as his little sister.”

Connie snorted. Good to know that Steven’s mindset of adopting people into his family would persist even as an adult. The young girl heard two cars pull up outside and took a deep breath. She would not avoid Twoie this time. This was a family camping trip, and she would make sure she spent time with _all_ of her family.

* * *

Steven bounced in his seat in excitement when the car pulled up to the cabin. He waved at Doug, grinning when the man waved back, and then rushed to unbuckle his seat and hop out of the car. Doug ruffled Steven’s hair as the kid ran up to him. “Steven! It’s so nice to see you!”

“It’s nice to see you too!” Steven happily replied.

Before he could say more, Connie raced out of the house, Priyanka following behind at a slower pace. “Steven!”

Steven laughed and darted toward Connie. The two met halfway, giving each other the biggest hug. “Connie!”

Greg, Twoie, and Amethyst stepped out of the Dondai as the van pulled up behind it. Pearl and Garnet hopped out of the van, happily greeting the Maheswarans and the rest of their family. Priyanka smiled warmly as she hugged Twoie, then shook Greg’s hand. “I’m glad you all made it! How was the drive?”

Steven broke away from his friend to hug his mom. “It was fun! We sang songs on the way here, and Dad told us about some of the towns that we passed by.”

Greg laughed as Garnet and Twoie walked off to unload the car. “Do we have anything planned yet?”

Doug hummed in thought. “The lake has a section for fishing and for swimming. Fishing will work best if we go early in the morning. So, if everyone’s fine with going for a swim, we could do that and then start working on the campfire before it gets dark.”

Greg nodded. “Sounds like a plan! In that case, I’ll tell the kids to get ready. Pearl probably has an ice chest if you two want to get some waters and juices to take with us.”

It didn’t take long for everyone to get ready, and soon, the family was gathered at the lake. Steven, Connie, and Amethyst immediately dashed towards the water. Priyanka, Pearl, and Garnet sat together on some lake chairs and chatted while watching their family in the water. Greg and Doug placed the ice chest by the other adults before joining in the conversation. That left Twoie by himself. He thought about joining the others at the chairs but decided it’d be more fun to swim with his siblings. As he waded into the lake, he was startled by a splash of water to the face. He spluttered and turned to find Amethyst laughing at him. Steven and Connie were giggling off to the side, but Twoie knew it was the gem that had splashed him. Twoie summoned a small shield with a grin, using it to scoop up some water and fling it at his older sister.

Amethyst only had enough time for her eyes to widen in surprise before she was doused with water. “Oh, so that’s how you want to play?” She grinned, and Twoie felt a shiver run down his spine. The purple gem shapeshifted into a bird, rose high in the air, then shifted into a small whale. Steven quickly summoned a large shield, pulling Connie onto it when he saw his sister rise into the air. Twoie didn’t realize what she was planning until after she had shifted into the second animal. He tried to swim away as quickly as he could, but the whale cannonballed into the water. The young man found himself riding a wave of water further out onto the lake. Steven and Connie howled with laughter as they surfed the wave safely from the shield. From the edge of the lake, the adults laughed at their shenanigans. Twoie laughed as he resurfaced from the water and continued the splash war.

As Connie was dragged in by Steven, she couldn’t help smiling at Twoie. She definitely should’ve tried hanging out with him sooner. He froze when a scoop of water blasted her in the face. Oh. He was going to regret that. She grinned when Steven handed her his shield, then summoned another one. The two charged in together, splashing both Amethyst and Twoie. The fun continued for a while until the sun started to go down. Everyone went back to the cabin and changed into warmer clothing, so they wouldn’t freeze when night fell.

Once everyone had changed, Doug, Garnet, and Greg headed outside to set up the campfire. Greg took a deep breath of the chilly evening air. “Alright, we’ve got logs and tinder for the fire. Garnet, would you do us the honors?”

Garnet smiled and cracked her fingers. “Absolutely.” She placed her right hand on the campfire, covering both the tinder and one of the logs. Her palm heated up, and the pile quickly ignited, leaving behind a brightly burning fire.

Doug whistled in awe at the show of power. “That’s really handy!” Greg snorted, and Garnet shook her head, though her smile betrayed her amusement at the pun. “Alright, the fire’s ready, that means it’s time to make dinner.”

Pearl walked over with the ice chest. She set it beside her log seat and pulled out a bag of hot dogs. “I know you don’t like Connie eating things that are unhealthy, so let me assure you that these are handmade chicken hot dogs.” Priyanka and Twoie came out of the cabin and sat down at the fire. Next, Pearl summoned a bunch of grilling skewers and some condiments from her gem. She also summoned a bag of hot dog buns. “I’ve got everything we need for roasting hot dogs over a fire, and I’ve got the ingredients for s’mores as well!”

Priyanka sighed in exasperation, though she was smiling. She appreciated Pearl going to so much effort for their trip. She was getting better at ignoring her dislike of sweets and junk food, though it was hard sometimes. “Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Pearl. I feel better letting Connie eat marshmallows, knowing that she’ll be eating something decent for dinner.”

Twoie looked at her in confusion. “You’ve been letting Connie eat packaged things?”

Doug smiled and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “Yeah. When we realized we were pretty controlling of Connie’s life, we took a step back and evaluated everything we did concerning her. We figured it wasn’t fair that she couldn’t eat the same things her peers did.”

Priyanka chuckled lightly as she skewered a hot dog and held it over the fire. “I still prefer homemade cooking, but we’ll let Connie eat things like a donut or candy as a treat now.”

Amethyst bounded over to the campfire with the kids trailing behind her. “I smell food! Yum!”

Twoie quietly chuckled as Pearl held the bag of chicken hot dogs out of the smaller gem’s reach. “These ones are for the humans.” Pearl summoned a small lunchbox from her gem and tossed it to Amethyst. “This is for you.” The purple gem eagerly unzipped it, and her eyes went starry as she looked at a bunch of chicken patties and sausages she could eat. Content that the rest of the food would remain intact, Pearl handed out the remaining skewers to Twoie, Connie, and Steven. She also passed them the ingredients to make their hot dogs. Twoie sat down in the middle of the log, and Connie decided to sit on his opposite side, leaving Twoie’s other side free for Steven to sit at. Everyone cooked their dinners over the fire, laughing when Greg almost burnt his.

The sun continued to fall until the only light at the campsite was the light from the cabin and the campfire's glow. Everyone had eaten and were now roasting marshmallows over the fire. Doug leaned forward slightly. “Now that we’ve moved onto dessert, it’s time for the most iconic part of every campfire.” Everyone else stared at him in confusion. “It’s time for… _ghost stories._ ”

Priyanka shook her head fondly, while Pearl and Garnet exchanged a grin. Doug cleared his throat and set his skewer down. “Okay, now this story is something that actually happened to me.” Twoie, Steven, and Connie leaned forward in anticipation. “A long time ago, I was asked to work security at an old bank. I agreed to the job because it offered good money, even though I was only watching it for a single night.” Doug grabbed his flashlight but didn’t turn it on as he swung it around. “I was the only one in the building, and even though the lights were on, they were pretty dim. Everything creaked, too! I walked around with my keys and a taser, poking my head into every room before moving on. Suddenly, I heard footsteps. It sounded like it was coming from behind, but every time I turned around, I saw nothing.” Doug turned and looked behind him at the appropriate time in his story. “I didn’t believe in ghosts, so I thought I was just overreacting. Still, I made my way back to the lobby since it was very open, and I could get out if I needed to. When I walked into the lobby, the door behind me slammed shut.” The man clapped his hands together to simulate the sound of a slamming door. Greg jumped at the sound, absorbed in the story.

The others were listening with anticipation as Doug reached the climax of his tale. “I tried opening the door again, but it wouldn’t move. Almost like someone was holding it shut from the other side. The lights flickered, then burned out, and I was almost willing to pretend it was just a draft when the lights burst, sending shards of glass raining down. After that, I was done. I bolted for the front door and left the building. I tried calling the boss of the bank, but he didn’t answer me. I ended up walking around the outer perimeter for the rest of the night. I saw lights turn on and off inside the bank, but I knew no one was inside. In the morning, the bank's boss came and told me that apparently, the bank was haunted. Many people spoke of being run out of the building by the ghost. He opened the door before I could tell him about the broken lights, but everything looked fine when we went inside. No glass on the floor. I never worked security for that bank again.” Doug was proud of his story as the others clapped.

“Did that actually happen?” Steven tilted his head questioningly.

The older man nodded. “Yup! You can even ask Priyanka. I came home and told her all about it.” Everyone turned to the woman in question, and she nodded in agreement. Connie and Steven oo’ed in amazement.

Pearl clapped her hands together in glee. “What a truly suspenseful story, Doug. I really enjoyed hearing it. If you don’t mind, I’d like to go next! As thanks for sharing a human experience, I’d like to share a gem’s ghost story.” Pearl turned her flashlight on and pointed it towards her chin. “It’s called the Story of the Glass Ghost.”

**_(Spoiler for the Steven and the Crystal Gems Mini-comic series. Please skip ahead to the next line of text in bold and italics if you don’t want to read spoilers. Thank you!)_ **

Amethyst pouted beside Priyanka. “Man, this again?”

Steven and Connie looked at Amethyst in surprise. “Do you know this story already?” Connie asked as Amethyst muttered something under her breath.

“Yeah, Pearl and Garnet used to tell me this stupid fairy tale they made up all of the time.” She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away in annoyance. “It’s not real. They just made it up to scare me.”

Pearl and Garnet exchanged a look of shock at Amethyst’s reaction. Pearl looked at the younger gem in concern. “I’m sorry, Amethyst. I don’t have to tell it if it bothers you.” Amethyst’s eyes widened in surprise, and she stared at Pearl. “I didn’t realize us telling you that upset you. We meant it to be a scary but fun way to teach you not to wander off, kinda like the human’s Santa Claus and other folk stories.”

Garnet nodded in agreement. “We should’ve known better than to keep telling it when it was obvious that you were scared. I know it bothered you for centuries. Can you forgive us?”

Amethyst’s frown morphed into a smile. “Yeah. I forgive you.” She turned to Pearl. “And you can tell it if you want. I’m not scared of it anymore. Knowing it was supposed to be fun makes me feel better about it.”

Twoie coughed lightly into his hand as though hiding a laugh. All eyes turned on him. “Twoie? Are you alright?” Connie asked him with concern in her voice.

The young man blushed at being caught. “Uh, yeah! I’m fine. It’s just that the Glass ghost, you know…” He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “It might actually be real?”

Amethyst’s head whipped around to face Twoie. “Wait… You mean…?” Everyone stared at Twoie in shock as he nodded. “I knew it!” Amethyst crowed triumphantly. “Rose told me that story a long time ago, and when she told it, it always seemed like she was telling me something she experienced, instead of a story.” Pearl and Garnet were startled. Had Rose really encountered the Glass Ghost? They brushed the thought aside. No point in dwelling on something that could never be answered.

Twoie took a deep breath before turning to face Pearl. “If you’re alright with it, Pearl, could I tell my version of the Glass Ghost? It’s a little different than the one you know.”

Pearl, still in slight shock, simply nodded her head. All eyes watched Twoie as he began his story. “Once, long ago, there was a gem. She was a rare gem and had high status in the empire. She was sent to earth to help with the colonization of the planet, but something happened.” The Crystal Gems flinched slightly. They knew what was coming. “A gem went rogue and started a rebellion against the Diamond Empire. The rebel gem fought long and hard, with many others who believed in her cause. When the Diamonds sent the message to retreat, the rare gem tried to flee. She sought to escape the attack that was to come. But in the end, she failed.” Pearl and Garnet lowered their heads slightly in sadness. Even the humans could feel the sorrow and hurt in Twoie’s tale. Could feel the young man’s ache for the gems that were corrupted by the Diamond attack.

“Trapped on earth, she was hit by the attack, corrupted like countless other gems who were trapped on earth as well. Her body became jagged, made up of shards of gleaming glass. She was completely unrecognizable from the gem she had been before. Although she lost some of her memories, her sentience remained. She tried to leave the forest that she was stuck in during the attack. The gem grabbed onto a nearby tree to help herself up, only for the tree to turn to glass at her touch.” Amethyst, Connie, and Steven flinched in horror. Pearl, Doug, and Priyanka gasped in shock. “She shied away from the tree in horror, only to realize that her footsteps were also changing the grass she walked on. Horrified by her new powers, she exiled herself to that forest. She learned to appreciate the earth and the nature that surrounded her. However, thousands of years in isolation will change anyone. The gem grew lonely and became desperate to touch something without it becoming glass. But she could not find anything that could resist her powers. She roams that very forest to this day, hoping to find someone or something that she can touch without affecting it with her powers, leaving only a trail of glass behind. So, if you ever find yourself lost in a forest, be wary of anything that shines in the light. Or you may find yourself the next thing that is turned to glass by the Glass Ghost.”

Twoie finished his story to silence. Everyone was enraptured by the tale of the lonely gem. Knowing that she was real and suffering left a pang of sadness in their hearts. Steven watched the fire crackle for a moment before looking up at his older brother. “Were you ever able to help her?”

The young man nodded, and everyone let out a sigh of relief. “She lived in the campgrounds that Dad likes to take us to. I went camping with the gems once, and we ended up encountering her. She turned everyone in Beach City to glass before I figured out that she was just lonely.” At the mention of ‘everyone,’ Steven turned to his father in horror. “My bubble prevented her from turning me to glass, and I used that to let her hug me. She poofed herself after, freeing everything that she had touched from the glass.” The tension in Steven’s body disappeared, knowing that everyone was okay. “After we healed everyone from the corruption, I met up with her.” Twoie happily smiled as he recalled how happy she was to see him again. “She was so thankful that I was able to help her. She goes by Shine now.” Twoie laughed lightly as he recalled the stars in her eyes when he told her she had a legend amongst the Crystal Gems. “Shine really likes being a legend. I told the story a couple of times to the gems in Little Homeworld, and she always loved hanging around to see their reactions. She left soon after to travel the world, and last I heard, she returned to Beach City to write a book about the things she had seen.”

**_(End of Spoilers for the Steven Universe Comic)_ **

Connie smiled as the others continued asking Twoie questions about his experience. She noted his smile as he talked about his friend. That was the nice thing about Twoie and Steven. They always looked for the best in people. The young girl relaxed, grabbing a marshmallow and roasting it over the fire. So focused on her thoughts, she slightly jumped when a hand appeared in front of her. She looked up to see Twoie handing her a bar of chocolate and a package of graham crackers. Connie took the offerings with a grin and a quiet thanks. Twoie returned her smile before answering whatever question her dad had asked him. Yeah. The young girl couldn’t keep the wide smile off her face as she made her treat. Her mom was right. Twoie was definitely the big brother she never knew she wanted.


	14. Fishing Trip Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doug and Greg wake the kids up for the fishing trip. While waiting for a fish to fall for the bait, Connie uses the opportunity to question Twoie about her future self.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you all are doing well! This chapter is going to be a mix of hurt/comfort and family feels. I wanted to do something interesting with Connie's character. Mindful Education is coming up next, and I wanted her to trust Twoie. Something that was always going to come up is Connie's thoughts on her future self. She's still really young, so her world-view is a bit naive. In SUF, there only time Connie was kind of OOC was when she missed Steven's cue in Bismuth Casual. Sometimes things are happening to your friends or family and you just don't notice. It doesn't mean you don't care, but people feel guilt over it anyway. We make mistakes, and since that's the whole point of Mindful Education, I thought this would be a great tie-in for the next chapter. 
> 
> I'd like to thank E3m0nch0, RoxasTsuna_TMNT, Dimonds456, and Betta_Splendin for helping me with ideas for this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it!

“WAKE UP, KIDS! WHO’S READY TO GO FISHING?” Connie, Steven, and Twoie were startled awake with a yelp. To her surprise, the young girl tangled herself in her blankets, causing her to tumble to the floor with a muted thud. Another thud informed her that one of the brothers had also fallen off of their bed. Connie crawled out of her pile of blankets to find her dad and Mr. Greg smiling at them from the doorway. Steven was trying and failing to contain his laughter from his perch on the boys’ bed. Turns out, Twoie was the source of the other thud, having fallen off his bed just like Connie had.

Her dad catches her attention again when he holds up a tackle box. “You kids need to hurry and get ready if you want to come fishing with us! We’ve already got the tackle boxes and fishing rods ready. Just meet us in the living room when you’re ready!”

Twoie half-heartedly glares at them as he picks himself up off the floor. “You couldn’t have woken us normally?” The young man yawns while turning to stare at the digital clocks between the two beds in the room. He groans when he reads _5:08 am_ on the white LED screen. “And I know you said early, but do we really need to be up this early?”

Greg chuckles at his eldest son’s annoyance. “This is the best time to go fishing. Don’t worry! The cold air will wake you right up. That reminds me, you kids should dress in layers. It’ll be cold on the lake right now while it’s still dark, but once the sun is out, it’ll be much warmer.”

Connie nodded and quickly rushed to get ready. She was so excited! Fishing was something she had always wanted to try and never had the chance to do. And this would be a great way to spend more time with her newfound family. Connie quickly changed in the bathroom before heading downstairs to wait in the living room. When everyone was ready, they headed out to the lake.

The gems and her mom had decided not to join them on their trip. Connie figured her mom wanted to take advantage of the vacation to sleep in for a change. She wasn’t sure why the gems didn’t want to come. “Hey, Steven?” Her friend looked at her curiously. “Did the gems say why they didn’t want to go fishing?”

Steven smiled and turned to watch their dads load the gear into a small rental boat. “They said that they wanted us to have a chance to bond more with our dads. Plus, they wanted to have a ladies' morning.”

Connie smiled at the thought of her mom getting along with the gems. “I’m glad they're going to do something fun together.” The young girl saw movement in her periphery and turned to see their dads waving at them. Twoie was already at the boat, lifting an ice chest onto it with ease. “Come on! Looks like we’re ready to go.”

The two kids ran onto the boat, rushing over to the front so they could watch as Greg drove the boat out to the middle of the lake. There weren’t many boats out, so the group didn’t have to worry about tangling lines with other fishers. Greg and Doug taught the kids how to tie the hook to the fishing line and place bait on the hook. Minutes later, everyone had cast their lines and were waiting for a fish to bite. Doug and Greg were off to the side of the boat, laughing and chatting about work. Meanwhile, Steven, Connie, and Twoie were sitting by the front of the boat.

Connie felt her thoughts drift as she waited for a fish to pull on her line. She knew that Twoie was really nice and still kept a lot of his personality from Steven, but what about herself? Was older Connie still similar to how she was now? The young girl hoped that she was actually better than she was now. Maybe her older self was more confident and had more friends? That would be wonderful!

“If you think any louder, I think Steven and I will be able to hear you.” Connie lightly jumped in surprise at Twoie’s comment. She hadn’t realized that she spaced out. Twoie chuckled and shifted to sit on one of the foldable chairs they had brought along. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

The young girl thought about his offer for a second before moving to sit as well. “Actually, it’s more of a question I had about the future.” Steven tilted his head curiously at her as he sat down in the last chair. “I was wondering if you would be willing to tell me a little about my future self?”

Steven grinned, shifting slightly so he could see both his brother and his fishing pole. “Yeah! I want to know too! I saw her that one time in Mom’s room at the temple. She was so pretty!”

Twoie winced at the reminder. There were many bad memories associated with that day. Connie frowned when Steven sheepishly patted his brother’s arm in silent apology. That was something that she was… worried about when it came to her thoughts on her future self. Twoie had been extremely secretive and sad when he first arrived. He put on a smile with them because his act had worked in his time. Connie wasn’t the best with social cues; she had no problems acknowledging that, but this was Steven. If Connie had noticed Steven acting like Twoie was, she hoped she would have said something or tried to help. What had changed that she didn’t notice Twoie’s problems? Was Twoie just that good of an actor? The young girl shook her head. It was more like… Twoie and Steven were good at bottling things up. They weren’t good liars; they were just used to brushing their feelings off. So, why had future her missed this? Would she miss it when the time came? “Twoie? What is my future self like?”

Twoie sighed and stared wistfully out at the lake. “My Connie is… incredible.” Connie blushed and turned to Steven. She had to hold back a giggle at how red Steven’s face was. If Steven thought this highly of her a couple of years from now… Well… Connie wouldn’t be opposed to his compliments in the slightest. Twoie didn’t notice their moment as he continued. “She’s so smart. Connie was always there with advice when I was struggling during the war. I knew I always had someone to talk to. Even when I didn’t tell her things, I knew she would’ve listened to me.”

“You know that would make me worry more, right?” Connie frowned disapprovingly at Twoie.

The young man rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment as he chuckled. “Definitely. My Connie got so mad once when I told her we’d be a team, and then I did something stupid without her.” Twoie gave Steven a determined look. “When the time comes, I’ll make sure you don’t make the same mistake, Steven.” That didn’t make her feel better. Now she was even more confused. “Anyway, after the war was over, we hung out pretty often. Lately, she’s been really busy studying for college. I don’t see her much now.” Connie’s eyes widened as an air of sadness settled over Twoie. “We mostly talked over the phone since she was always busy.”

“Studying?” Twoie blinked in surprise at the biting tone in Connie’s voice. Even Steven was startled as he noted his friend’s eye twitch in annoyance. “You were struggling with your issues about your mom, and the Diamonds, and your repressed feelings while my future self was busy _studying_?” The thing was, Connie wasn’t annoyed. She was mad. Yeah, school is important but more important than Twoie’s health? And even if her future self was still talking to him on the phone, shouldn’t she have noticed that something was wrong?

“Woah, Connie. It’s not like that.” Twoie raised a hand to try to placate her. “My Connie is graduating early, and she has cram school. If she’s not studying for her classes, she studying for her college entrance exams. She really doesn’t have free time, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s no way I’d ever ask her to put her life aside for me.”

And wasn’t that just great? Connie felt her anger grow. Steven was her first friend. He is her best friend. And her future self was taking it for granted while Twoie never stopped looking out for her. “But you would for her.” Twoie blinked in surprise. “You would absolutely put your life aside for her if she asked. I don’t understand why she wasn’t there for you!” Connie gripped her fishing pole tightly. “I thought she would be cool, but my future self is just a big jerk!”

Twoie quickly stood up, startling Steven and Connie. He looked upset and disappointed. “Connie… You can’t blame my Connie for not noticing.” She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off. “No. My Connie has her own life. After the war was over, she knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to continue her studies so she could go to college. I supported her decision every step of the way.” Twoie knelt beside the young girl and put a hand on her shoulder. “It was my decision to hide my feelings. I was so used to my problems being brushed aside and not mattering with the gems that I started brushing them aside as well. That was my fault.” Connie looked at him sadly at the reminder of how hard his life had been. “My Connie is my best friend, and I know she would’ve dropped everything to help me if she knew. And that was exactly the reason why I hid it from her.”

Connie sighed and leaned back into her chair. “You’re right. I just… You’re like my big brother now, and it hurts knowing that my future version missed the signs.” She looked over at Steven. He was watching her, worriedly. “What if something happens with you or Steven, and I miss it? I don’t like the thought of you two getting hurt.”

Twoie fondly smiled at her. He pulled her and Steven into a hug. “That’s always going to be a possibility. However, Steven and I know that our feelings matter. We know it’s okay to ask for help. It’s not your fault if we keep things from you or something happens. Okay, little sis?” Connie hugged him back, feeling relieved as her stress faded away. Twoie was right. Connie had taken out her worries on Future Connie, and that wasn’t fair. It wasn’t her fault, and she had tried her best to be there for Twoie.

Throughout their discussion, Steven had quietly stayed in the background. It was nice to finally see his older brother and his best friend getting along. He could ignore the tension clawing its way through his body when they laughed or smiled. He could pretend that Twoie hadn’t almost died several times in the past year. He could almost forget the silence of space as Twoie fell unconscious and his bubble disappeared, leaving Steven with the still form of his older brother. And as they focused on fishing again, Steven pushed the memories to the back of his mind. He grinned as his dad took of picture of Steven with the first fish he had ever caught. Laughed when Connie reeled in a fish, and it smacked Twoie in the face with its tail. Everything was okay. Everything would be okay. As long as he didn’t ask for help.


	15. Here Comes A Thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie was enjoying a relaxing day. They were few and far between, and he'd been enjoying his day in the observatory with Steven. However, the day takes a turn when Connie arrives for sword practice. Something is clearly wrong, and Twoie already knows the reason why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry for the late update, but it's still Saturday so I haven't actually missed my deadline! XD Here is the chapter I got a good amount of requests for. I'd like to thank Coconut24, Dimonds456, and RoxasTsuna_TMNT. Especially Roxas. We had a long discussion about Mindful Education, and I went with your idea about this being a reversal. This statement will be clearer at the end of the chapter. The other part of your idea will be featured in the next chapter. 
> 
> Speaking of the next chapter, I won't be updating next week. I have two projects and a test due the week of the 8th, so it's just not possible for me to write a chapter during that mess. Luckily, today's chapter ended up being longer than I thought it would, so I hope this ties you all over until then. I also updated "A Split In The Path" yesterday, so hopefully, readers interested in that story will also find that as a good compensation. 
> 
> I hope you guys have a great weekend! Stay safe!

Several days had passed from the family camping trip. Everyone had enjoyed themselves, and Twoie felt closer than ever to his newfound family. It was a little weird, but for the first time in a long time, Twoie felt stress-free. The young man hummed softly as he tended to his plants in the observatory. Steven was sitting in the telescope chair, watching as he trimmed stems and plucked several leaves. “What are those leaves that you’re picking?” Steven noticed that Twoie had several jars in a basket, each with a different leaf inside. Every jar also had words written in sharpie on a strip of tape, but Steven was too far away to read them.

“Oh! These are for the herbs I planted.” Twoie stood and brought his basket over to his brother. He held out a spiky leaf with a sharp, cool smell. “This is a mint leaf.” As Steven sniffed it, Twoie held out another leaf, one that was much bigger and curled inward. “This is a basil leaf.” Steven placed it with the mint and tilted his head curiously as Twoie held out one last leaf. It was tiny! Steven thought it was so cute as he gently cradled it with both hands. “And this last one is an oregano leaf.” Twoie carried the basket back to its original spot and continued picking leaves. “I like growing herbs because they smell really nice and are useful for cooking. Especially basil and oregano. I pick them when the leaves are ready and dry them.”

Steven chewed on the mint leaf. “Wow, it really does taste like mint!”

“Yup! This is actually where we get the mint taste in candy or scented oil. It’s taken from these leaves.” Twoie chuckled as the kid got up and started looking around the observatory in awe. He occasionally asked about a plant that interested him, and Twoie was more than happy to explain what it was. The young man had missed this. Now that things were calm again, he could relax and resume teaching Steven.

With a content sigh, Twoie stood up and grabbed the basket. That was enough for now. “Ready, Steven? I need to start drying these, and I think you have sword practice soon, right?”

The kid pulled his phone out and checked the time. “Shoot! It’s in a couple of minutes! Come on!” Steven rushed out of the door, waiting impatiently for Twoie to catch up.

Twoie just laughed as he trailed behind him. They quickly made their way downstairs, only to blink in surprise at the sight of Connie digging through her bag on the coffee table. “Connie? How long have you been here?”

Connie looked up for a second, then resumed digging through her bag. “Oh, hey guys. Sorry, I knocked first, but no one answered, so I let myself in. I figured it was fine since the door’s always unlocked when someone’s home.”

Steven looked up at Twoie in concern before turning back to Connie. Something was wrong. Connie didn’t act like this, and the kid was worried about his friend. “Connie? Are you okay?” Steven jumped the last couple of steps and walked over to Connie. He frowned when she ignored him.

Twoie sighed as he walked the rest of the way down. He remembered this. She was stuck in her head and had likely not heard Steven at all. The young man set a hand on her shoulder just as the warp lit up. Everyone turned to see Pearl and Garnet walk happily into the room. Pearl pressed her hands together in joy at seeing Twoie with her pupils. “Twoie! Will you be joining us? We’re going to have a very special lesson today for Steven and Connie!”

Connie looked back to her duffle bag in worry. “Oh, no. Was I surprised to bring something?”

“Just yourselves.” Garnet folded her arms behind her with a grin.

Pearl couldn’t keep her excitement off her face. “Garnet is going to sit in! She’s very excited to see you two fight as Stevonnie.”

The young girl looked at the floor, disappointment slightly lacing her voice. “Oh, right. Fusion training.”

Garnet’s smile slowly faded away. The permafusion exchanged a glance with Pearl, who was now beginning to realize that something was wrong.

Twoie coughed lightly to get everyone’s attention. “Actually, can we switch up today’s lesson? I want to talk to Connie for a second, and then I think we should have a mindfulness lesson on the beach. If you’re willing to lead it, Garnet.” He didn’t think she would say no, but he would rather check anyway, just in case.

Luckily, Garnet nodded at him with a knowing smile. “Of course, Twoie. I’m always up for a little mindful education.”

Connie looked at Twoie in confusion. “Oh, uh- okay? Did you need me for something?”

Twoie just shook his head and gestured for her to follow him. “I’ll text you when we’re done, and then you guys can join us outside.” Steven tilted his head in confusion but nodded anyway. Pearl playfully shooed at him, so Twoie held the front door open for Connie. Once she had stepped through, he closed it behind him.

The two honorary siblings walked down to the beach in silence. Twoie picked out a nice shady spot in the sand before gesturing for Connie to sit down with him. The young girl frowned but did as he asked. “Alright, Connie. What’s wrong?”

Connie raised an eyebrow at him. “Nothing’s wrong. Did you just bring me out here to ask me that?”

The young man shook his head. “I know something’s wrong. I’m from the future, remember? I’ve lived through this day already, but I’d rather you tell me about it yourself.”

That made Connie glower at him. “Well, then. If you already know what happened, why don’t you just tell me how to fix it?” She froze, then groaned in embarrassment as she tucked her legs in so they covered her face. “I’m sorry.” Her words were slightly muffled. Connie took a deep breath then shifted so her arms were wrapped around her legs and she could look at the ocean. “I’m upset, and it was wrong of me to take it out on you.”

Twoie smiled and patted her on the head. “Thank you. I already know how to help you, and part of that is having you tell me what happened. You’ll feel better if you talk about it.”

Connie hesitated, but he could see his words got through to her. “I accidentally beat a kid up in school today. He bumped into me in the hallway, and I-! I just reacted!” She covered her face with her hands. “My training instincts kicked in, and I flipped him over my shoulder. I was so embarrassed that I just ran away.” Connie looked up at him, silently begging for some kind of comfort. “What do I do now? How do I fix this?”

The young man placed his hand on her shoulder. “Sometimes we hurt people by accident. That’s a part of life. What matters is how you deal with the pain you cause others. You need to make up for it.” Twoie thought of how many times the gems had hurt him in the past. He’d forgiven them every single time without any apology or acknowledgment of his hurt feelings. Twoie was the embodiment of those consequences. “The next time you see him, you need to apologize. If he asks, you can tell him that you take self-defense classes, and you flipped him on instinct, but make sure you don’t use it as an excuse. There’s no excuse for hurting someone.” Connie nodded in agreement. “And whether he forgives you or not, you need to work on controlling your instincts. That way, when someone bumps into you by accident, you can catch yourself before you accidentally flip someone again.”

“Okay, Twoie. If he’s at school tomorrow, I’ll apologize.” Connie let out a relieved sigh. “Thanks for helping me.” The young girl hugged Twoie before standing and brushing the sand off her skirt. “Okay! I’m ready for training now. We’re doing something a little different today?” Twoie nodded as he texted Garnet. A second later, the permafusion and Steven walked out of the beach house and joined them on the beach.

“Alright! Twoie has requested me to train you two about mindfulness.” Garnet sat cross-legged on the sand with her hands folded neatly on her lap. Twoie mimicked her and gestured for his siblings to do the same. Once everyone was sitting in a meditative position, Garnet continued. “This technique is handy for daily life and for fusion. Life is all about balance. We balance our work, our diets, and our minds. This concept also works similarly with fusion. An imbalance can cause your fusion to lose touch with reality, see things that aren’t really there, and eventually fall apart.” Garnet leaned forward slightly. “That is to say, if one of you is falling apart, your fusion will fall apart.” Steven and Connie worriedly looked at each other. Twoie didn’t blame them. The idea that their emotions could cause them to un-fuse was pretty startling. Fusion was a mix of emotions. Two people becoming one through a connection. Stable fusions were made from a strong connection, such as friendship, kinship, or a relationship. Anything that could disrupt a fusion had the potential to disrupt that connection. “To find balance, you must understand your feelings. To understand your feelings, you must see them clearly, without running from them.”

“See them clearly?” Connie looked at Garnet in wonder.

“I’ll show you.” Garnet pointed her finger at them. “But first, we’re going to need Stevonnie.”

Steven and Connie nodded at each other in determination. They took each other’s hands and fused. Stevonnie waved at Twoie with a soft smile before turning their attention to Garnet. “Okay. We just mimic you?” At Garnet’s nod, they sat cross-legged again and moved their hands into a meditative position.

Garnet looked to see if Twoie was sitting correctly and then moved on to the next step. “Close your eyes. Breath.” The young man closed his eyes, and the world went dark. “Here in the darkness, it’s okay. Listen to the waves, and let them fade away.” Another breath. The soft sounds of waves brushing against the sand faded. Soon, Twoie couldn’t hear them at all. There was nothing. Just the darkness and the sound of his breathing. “Here comes a thought.”

* * *

Stevonnie wasn’t sure how to explain it. First, there was darkness. Then, there was just this feeling, and something told them to open their eyes. When they did, they were in this pale blue world. Stevonnie looked around in surprise. Twoie was here, and so was Garnet. They were sitting together across from themself. Stevonnie wondered briefly if this was what Rose’s room was based on.

Their attention snapped back to Garnet when the permafusion took a deep breath. _“Take a moment to think of just flexibility, love, and trust. Take a moment to think of just flexibility, love, and trust.”_ Garnet and Twoie turned to look at something off to the side, and Stevonnie was surprised when they followed their gaze to see Sapphire and Ruby. The two were standing together, staring at a little white butterfly in surprise. _“Here comes a thought that might alarm you.”_ Ruby glared at the butterfly, stomping her feet in anger, and dashed away from Sapphire’s side when the butterfly flew away. Sapphire reached out for her, but Ruby didn’t notice as she continued chasing after the creature. _“Words someone said, and how it harmed you.”_ Sapphire was left alone as more butterflies showed up, circling around her like a whirlwind. She broke down as the butterflies covered her from view.

Stevonnie wished they could do something to help, but this was all in their minds. Sapphire wasn’t actually in trouble. _“Something you did that failed to be charming. Things that you said are suddenly swarming.”_ Ruby looked away from the butterfly she had chased, rubbing tears from her eyes, only to notice the swarm around Sapphire. She raced over, shooing the butterflies away, and held Sapphire close. _“And oh, you’re losing sight, you’re losing touch. All these little things seem to matter so much. That they confuse you. That I might lose you.”_ The little blue gem grabbed onto Ruby like a lifeline. The two gems comforted each other as they faded away.

A large shadow appeared out of nowhere. Stevonnie whipped around in fear and almost jumped back at the enormous corrupted gem that towered over them. _“Take a moment, remind yourself to take a moment and find yourself.”_ Garnet looked up at the creature with an air of remorse. Twoie actually scooted back a little. Stevonnie vaguely noted that this had to have been the first time he’d ever seen his corrupted form. _“Take a moment and ask yourself if this is how we fall apart. But it’s not, but it’s not, but it’s not, but it’s not, but it’s not.”_ Corrupted Twoie looked around in fear as white butterflies appeared from all angles. They swarmed the poor creature, causing him to lash out.

The butterflies darted around every swipe of his claws. _“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay.”_ Twoie stood up and ran towards his corrupted self. Stevonnie stood to chase after him, but Garnet gently grabbed their wrist. The permafusion shook her head, and Stevonnie reluctantly sat back down. _“You’ve got nothing, got nothing, got nothing, got nothing to fear.”_ Twoie shooed the butterflies away and was glad when it worked. He kept at it until they were all gone. His corrupted form looked around in surprise that the butterflies were gone. With wide eyes, Corrupted Twoie looked down and saw Twoie standing there at his feet. _“I’m here.”_ The corrupted gem laid down, and his human form cautiously held a hand out. “ _I’m here.”_ With a soft sigh, the creature touched his nose to Twoie’s palm and purred. _“I’m here.”_ Twoie closed his eyes and hugged the snout of his corrupted form. They would always watch out for each other. After all, they were two parts of the same person and always would be.

Stevonnie felt like they were intruding, but they were glad to see that Twoie had overcome the trauma of his corruption. The corrupted gem faded away, and Twoie quietly returned to the group. Stevonnie sighed, realizing it was now their turn to address their issues. They looked off to the side, where Sapphire and Ruby had been previously. _“Here comes a thought that might alarm me. Words someone said, and how it harmed me.”_ Steven and Connie were walking together, with Steven trailing behind. Stevonnie winced at how obvious it was that Connie was ignoring Steven due to her issues. Yet, Steven was still trying to cheer her up. Then, a butterfly flew in front of the young girl, and she broke down. _“Something I did that failed to be charming. Things that I’ve said are suddenly swarming.”_ Her backpack swelled until it burst, and hundreds of butterflies surrounded them, swirling in the air. Steven and Connie looked up at them in fear as they morphed together into one giant butterfly. _“And oh, I’m losing sight. I’m losing touch. All these little things seem to matter so much. That they confuse me. That I might lose me.”_ The giant butterfly displayed Connie’s memory of hurting the boy at school. The two friends watched in horror as Connie flipped the kid on instinct before running away in fear.

Stevonnie took a deep breath and closed their eyes. It was an accident. They knew that Connie had talked about it with Twoie and already decided to apologize when she could. _“Take a moment, remind yourself to take a moment and find yourself.”_ The young teen opened their eyes and smiled. They would get through this. Together. At that thought, a gentle wind blew through the mindscape, and the butterflies floating above them were blown away by the light breeze. _“Take a moment and ask yourself if this is how we fall apart. But it’s not, but it’s not, but it’s not, but it’s not, but it’s not.”_ Stevonnie looked back at the imaginary Steven and Connie.

Steven helped Connie stand, and they took a deep breath together. _“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay.”_ A butterfly landed on the young girl’s hand, and she stared at it in surprise as she started crying. Steven quickly grabbed his friend’s hand and pulled her into a tight hug. The butterfly stayed on Connie’s hand for another moment before it flew away. _“I’m here. I’m here. I’m here.”_ Connie hugged Steven back, thankful that her friend was always there for her. Her best friend pulled back, and they both looked up at the swarm of butterflies flying above them.

 _“And it was just a thought, just a thought, just a thought, just a thought, just a thought.”_ The butterflies flew higher into the vast blue sky of the mindscape. Stevonnie stood up and watched them flutter around. _“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay.”_ The teen smiled as Twoie and Garnet joined them, each standing on their opposite side. _“We can watch, we can watch, we can watch, we can watch them go by.”_ Movement from the side made them look where Steven and Connie were. To their surprise, Corrupted Twoie had returned, and on the top of his head sat Ruby, Sapphire, Steven, and Connie. All five of them were smiling as they watched the butterflies. _“From here. From here. From here.”_ Corrupted Twoie’s tail wagged, and the others watched in awe as the butterflies flew away. _“Take a moment to think of just flexibility, love, and trust.”_ Stevonnie smiled at the sight. The little group looked so peaceful and happy together. The teen turned and fondly smiled at their companions. Garnet and Twoie reached out their hands, and Stevonnie took the invitation for a hug with no hesitation. _“Take a moment to think of just flexibility, love, and trust.”_

Stevonnie felt so much better. They were glad that Twoie was watching out for them and that Garnet had been so willing to teach them this lesson. This is why they were startled when they were suddenly hit with an overwhelming sensation of fear. Before Stevonnie could figure out what was happening, they un-fused. Steven and Connie landed on the floor with a soft thud. Garnet hummed in thought as Twoie helped them both stand. “I thought for sure this would work. Are you still having trouble coming to terms with your emotions, Connie?”

The young girl shook her head. “That’s the thing! I’m fine with it now. I was just thinking about how glad I am that you two helped me when I felt this overpowering wave of fear. Next thing I know, Stevonnie un-fused.” Twoie’s and Garnet’s eyes widened in horror. Their heads whipped over to Steven, just in time to see a butterfly flutter up to him. 


	16. Manifestations of Self-Blame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie didn't understand how Steven still had a butterfly. He had stopped Steven from encountering Jasper, from fighting Eyeball or Bismuth. He'd even prevented Steven's conflict with their mom's mistakes. So how? How was there still a butterfly? And why could he suddenly hear many more?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's still Saturday! I'm not late! I swear! XD
> 
> Oof, today's chapter is a heavy one. We deal with Steven's issue and may or may not have accidentally triggered one of Twoie's... I'm sure you all will figure out where this is headed. I said we'd address the fusion stuff soon, but we need to address Steven's issues first. I based this a lot on Steven's projections in the mindscape as Stevonnie before they fell off the Sky Arena. I also watched a lot of White Diamond clips until I found a good quote that I could tie into. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy! And Happy Valentine's Day!

Twoie had no idea what was happening. Why did his brother have a butterfly? Everything Twoie had gone through was to prevent Steven from going through the same traumatic experiences he had experienced. Steven never gave any indication that something was upsetting him, at least, not since he went to therapy for the bubble incident. What had Twoie missed? He watched in shock and horror as the little white butterfly fluttered in front of Steven’s face. “Steven?” How had he not noticed that his brother was still hurting? In the silence, a cacophony of fluttering filled the room. Twoie turned his head to see a swarm of butterflies appear, circling above the group in the mindscape. It was like rubbing salt into the wound. “Steven? Can you tell me what’s wrong? I just want to help!”

“I don’t want your help!” Twoie flinched, stepping back in surprise at how pained Steven sounded. His little brother clenched his fists as he tried to hold back tears. The butterflies frenzied around them, breaking off into four smaller groups. One group swirled until it formed a giant figure. The mass of creatures fused into a giant scratched up and slightly bleeding Twoie, covering his stomach with one hand.

Steven whirled around in horror as his injured brother stepped forward, only to collapse with a whimper of pain. “Steven! Please!” Imaginary Twoie reached out a hand towards the group, though his eyes focused on Steven's shaking form. “Everything hurts. Why did you let our family hurt me? Why didn’t you try harder to convince them?” Steven took a step back, slowly shaking his head. Garnet and Twoie flinched at the reminder of their fight on the beach. “I just wanted to help…”

Before Twoie could try to talk to Steven, another swarm of butterflies shifted into a new form. This time, it was a figure of Twoie with dark bags under his eyes. The figure looked shaken, curly strands of hair sticking out in several places, and the giant Twoie’s hands were tightly gripping at his hair. “Why did you turn on me?” Giant Twoie hysterically giggled as he hunched in on himself. “You knew I was trying to help, but you left me. You only tried to help me once you were safe, even though I always hurt myself to help you. You just blamed me for everything that went wrong and left me to face Yellow Diamond with Peridot.” The imaginary Twoie glared at Steven and pointed at him in accusation. “You knew I was trying to help, but that wasn’t enough for you, was it? You’re the reason I broke down! You’re the reason I started corrupting! We all knew that was the turning point, and it’s all your fault!”

Connie gasped and hid behind Twoie. She knew a lot of stuff had happened to Twoie before he corrupted, but she never knew the details. Seeing how injured and upset these memory-based imaginary Twoies were, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. And those accusations… Connie knew that these were just manifestations of Steven’s darkest thoughts, and that hurt to know. She thought back to her conversation with Twoie during their camping trip. How long was Steven blaming himself for these incidents? The young girl couldn’t think of a moment that she had thought he was acting odd. Connie burrowed further into Twoie’s jacket, only to realized that he was shaking. She looked up, seeing the horror and guilt in his eyes. He must not have known that Steven was so affected by him getting hurt.

“It’s not! Garnet grabbed me! I didn’t run on purpose! I tried to snap you out of it!” Steven tried pleading with the figure, but the giant figure only glared harder.

The small group didn’t even notice the third swarm of butterflies until a large shadow appeared over them. Everyone whipped around to see another figure of Twoie, this time standing behind them. Twoie felt sick as he recognized what event this figure was from. This Twoie had blood dripping sluggishly from the corner of his mouth and his stomach. Pinkish splotches covered his pale skin, dark bags drooped under his eyes, and a hand hovered over a cracked gem. “Why Steven? Why didn’t you notice me leave? Why weren’t you paying attention when the gems had their meeting with Bismuth?” Twoie could hear Steven’s breath hitch with a sob, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from his bleeding, cracked form. He was barely lucid during that moment and hadn’t realized how badly Bismuth had hurt him. “Are you happy knowing that while you were sleeping comfortably in your bed that I was dying in that room? I confronted Bismuth to help you, but you couldn’t help me until it was too late.”

Garnet couldn’t believe that she had missed this. Of course, Steven would’ve been affected by all the times Twoie got hurt from protecting him. She was aware of her own twisted role in these incidents. She was part of the reason Twoie got hurt at the beach. As leader, Garnet should’ve given Twoie the chance to tell them why he released Peridot, but she didn’t. She should’ve recognized that she was unfairly blaming Twoie when Peridot contacted Yellow Diamond. She should’ve done more to protect Twoie when they were confronting Bismuth. None of these events were Steven’s fault, but her poor nephew had been suffering in silence.

Connie didn’t think she could handle much more of this. She only caught a glimpse of this new Twoie before rushing to hide behind her brother again. However, the image of corrupting, bleeding Twoie would forever be burned into her memory. How did Steven and the others deal with seeing Twoie like this in real life? This was horrible! And Connie knew the gems contributed to a lot of what happened, even though it was sometimes on accident. Some of Twoie’s past reactions made more sense to her now.

Although everyone was affected by these apparitions in the mindscape, Steven was hurt by them the most. The kid was beginning to hyperventilate. Initially, after the Peridot incident, he’d brushed the dark thoughts off because he knew they weren’t right. However, the doubt associated with them continued to circulate, especially after every new incident. He felt terrible for yelling at Twoie after Peridot told him about her plan to contact Yellow Diamond. Anger and betrayal had burned through him when she said Twoie knew about it already. Even though Twoie had forgiven him, that was when he began having a harder time ignoring his doubt. Talking with Peridot helped a little but seeing how exhausted and sick Twoie was had only strengthened that doubt. Especially when he found out that Twoie was covering it up. And then, there was Bismuth. Since Bismuth had taken the couch, he was sharing his bed with Twoie. Steven remembered the fear that coursed through him as Amethyst burst into the house shouting for him to wake up. He had no idea that Twoie was planning to intrude on their confrontation with Bismuth, let alone that a confrontation was happening. Nothing had matched his terror at seeing Twoie in a worse state than Amethyst after she cracked. He’d hoped to never see Twoie in that position again. But then…

The last swarm of butterflies morphed into a final figure of Twoie. This Twoie looked almost normal if it weren’t for the half-lidded eyes as he slumped forward slightly. This Twoie shivered from a chill only he could feel, and his breaths came in harsh, rasping gasps. “Steven… You knew what was going to happen.” The large figure coughed several times, as though choking. “I told you that we could be shot into space. I took over your role of activating the door, so you would be safe. I was trying to help you.” Steven scrambled backward in fear, accidentally tripping over his own feet. He flinched at every wracking cough that echoed through the mindscape. “If you had just stayed with the gems, I would’ve had enough air. We made a plan, and you ruined it. If I had died, it would’ve been your fault.”

“No!” Everyone turned to the real Twoie in shock. Twoie was still shaking, but he was glaring at the four figures of himself. “It was never Steven’s fault that any of this happened. Either it was my fault or the gems’ fault or someone else’s fault, but it was never his!” Steven looked at him in shock. “Steven, you need to let go of the blame. It’s not yours to shoulder, and it’s only hurting you.” Twoie held his arms out as an invitation for a hug. “I was the one who recklessly threw myself into those situations, but I promise you, I won’t rush in without thinking again. I should’ve realized that I was hurting you with my self-sacrificial actions. I promise I won’t ever do it again. So, please… Let it go.”

Steven’s face scrunched up as he started crying. Without hesitation, the kid pushed himself to his feet and lunged into his brother’s arms. As Twoie comfortingly brushed a hand through his brother’s hair, the four figures faded away. “I’m sorry! I just-!” Steven pulled away so he could see his brother. “Every time you got hurt was because you were helping me. So, I thought if I didn’t say anything, then you wouldn’t know. You wouldn’t be able to help me.” Steven sniffled, wiping away his tears. “You told us about the differences between your time and ours. I couldn’t help but feel like I only made things worse.”

Twoie stiffened. ‘ _I only made things worse.’ ~~“Only make things worse.”~~_ The calm blue of the mindscape shifted into a glaring reddish-orange. A pointed shadow fell over them, and Twoie viscerally reacted, stepping back as he whirled around in horror. He didn’t even notice as Garnet flinched, tripping over herself in shock at the looming figure. Connie and Steven backed up in fear. They didn’t recognize the figure, but something about her made them uncomfortable. If Garnet and Twoie were scared of her, then there was something to fear.

White Diamond loomed over them, giving Twoie a pitying look. “Please, stop helping them.” Twoie shivered at the disappointment in her voice. “You’ll only make things worse. That’s what you do.” She smiled at him. That calm, fake, _dangerous_ smile that never failed to strike fear into Twoie’s heart. “I’ve grown tired of your little game, Pink. Always hiding things. Tsk. Tsk.” White slowly reached out for him, thumb and pointer finger pointed as though ready to pluck him from the ground. “This has gone on _long enough._ ”

“NO!” Twoie didn’t know who screamed. He didn’t know what was going on. One second, White Diamond was reaching for him, ready to pluck his gem out, and the next, he was back on the beach. It was dark out. The stars were glittering in the sky, and the last of the sun was peeking over the horizon. Twoie clutched at his chest as he hyperventilated. A hand touched his shoulder, and Twoie shoved it off as fast as he could.

Garnet looked at him fearfully, pink light reflecting off her outstretched hand. “Twoie, you need to calm down. Breath in, and out.” Twoie wanted to say he was fine, but his words caught in his throat. He was having a hard time breathing. “In, and out.” Okay, in and out. The young man looked down at his hands, hoping that would help him focus on breathing, but he started panicking again as he noted that his hands were glowing pink. “Twoie!” He looked up, meeting all three of Garnet’s eyes. “Focus on me. In and out.” In and out. In. And out. In. Out.

Steven and Connie exchanged a look of concern before Connie whistled for Lion. A second later, a swirling pink portal appeared, and Lion hopped out. Connie didn’t need to say anything. The pink lion immediately honed in on Twoie and padded over. He nudged his head under Twoie’s, purring as he nuzzled his human. The young man gently gripped the soft mane, calming quickly as he petted his friend. “Thanks, Lion.” Twoie pressed his face into Lion’s mane.

Garnet sighed in relief. She flashed Connie and Steven a grateful look before turning back to Twoie. “Are you feeling better?” She knelt beside him as he nodded. Garnet wasn’t sure what had happened back in the mindscape. She knew that Twoie had to talk to the Diamonds to stop the war. They all knew that. However, Twoie had been very sparing of the exact details that led to that confrontation and how it happened. She would bet her gauntlets that whatever traumatic memory that he had hidden about White was something that happened before the war ended. “I know you didn’t mean for us to find out about your fear of White Diamond, but I need you to be open about it now.” Twoie peered up at her, face half-hidden in Lion’s mane. “Please, Twoie. We want to help you, and the only way we can do that is if you tell us what’s bothering you.”

Twoie closed his eyes before he nodded in agreement. “Okay. As long as you promise me that we’ll finish talking with Steven about his feelings before the day is over.” At Garnet’s nod of agreement, Twoie took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He never liked talking about it. He didn’t even like _thinking_ about it. Steven and Connie sat down at each side, ready to learn about the diamond that freaked out Twoie years after the war ended. “Okay. I guess everything started with the final battle.”


	17. Fears and Fusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There were still two secrets Twoie had, and both revolved around fusion. He needs to get them off his chest, and he has family that is willing to listen and help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Finally, Twoie talks about the incident with White Diamond, and his discomfort with fusing. This chapter also features two special guests! I want to thank RoxasTsuna_TMNT, Pausa07, and The_Poptart_Cat for requesting "Twoie's Issues with Fusion" and everyone who was looking forward to Twoie revealing the event with White Diamond. 
> 
> I won't be able to update next week because I have a whole bunch of assignments due the first week of March, and I will be working to catch up on that and keep my promise to update "A Split In The Path" before the month ends. I'm gonna have to work hard for those, so I won't be able to update this story on top of everything else. I want to move away from some of the more stressful stuff now, and have the brothers enjoy themselves again. I've had a couple of requests for a chapter where Twoie and Steven hang out with Lion and a chapter where they hang out with the Cool Kids. These are going to be the next upcoming chapters, so look forward to fluff and fun!
> 
> Thank you guys for reading, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

“The Final battle?” Garnet felt sick at the thought. Twoie had already informed them that there would be a fight with White Diamond on Homeworld that ends in a discussion where White realizes she is wrong. Twoie had not expanded further except that she was hard to talk to and that he still didn’t like her very much. All her life, Garnet had been taught to fear the might of the Diamonds. That fear had been redefined when she fused with Ruby; fear of losing Ruby forever had overridden Sapphire’s respect for her diamond. It changed again when the Diamond’s had launched their final attack against earth. But Twoie’s memory? Seeing White looming over her nephews, that sadistic smile with those cold, judgmental eyes…Garnet held back a shudder. There was no competition. Seeing White Diamond predatorily leaning over Twoie scared her the most. And that was only part of the story.

“Yeah…” Twoie shyly met her gaze. He sat on the beach, gently petting Lion, who was snoozing beside him. “I- uh… I just need a second. I’ve never actually told my gems this story.” Steven and Connie shared a look of concern. They often forgot that the Twoie they first met was very secretive. Their brother had grown so much since then. After another moment, Twoie decided he needed to get it over with. “I’ve told you all that we went to confront White Diamond. Yellow and Blue were still not convinced about the whole ‘I’m not Pink’ thing and were kinda just humoring us every time we brought it up. There was a ball thrown in celebration of ‘Pink’s return,’ my Connie and I fused by accident, and we were all separated after.” Twoie shuddered lightly. “I talked to them about what Pink went through, and Blue eventually realized her faults. It ended in a fight with Yellow, and Blue ended up convincing Yellow that the Diamonds were wrong. They were taken by White, and we had to fight the Diamond’s ship as Obsidian. Eventually, we were able to confront White, and she realized they were in the wrong.” The young man closed his eyes, looking away slightly in shame. “What I never told you is that White used her possession powers all of you, and I was forced to face her myself.”

Garnet barely registered Twoie’s flinch as she jumped to her feet. “She did _what?_ ” The permafusion paced on the beach, angrily brushing her hands through her hair. “I can’t believe it! No, wait, I can believe it!” Steven and Twoie exchanged a look. At Twoie’s nod, they both rose to their feet. Twoie shook Lion awake, and the brothers led him and Connie back several feet. She gave them a questioning look but quickly turned to Garnet as her voice grew louder. “She used it on us! Twoie had to face her alone! That monster!” Garnet turned on her heel and stomped in the opposite direction. “When I see her, I’m gonna punch her so hard it’ll wipe that smile off her face. She’ll feel it even after being poofed!” She glowed brightly, and, suddenly, there were two small gems on the beach.

Ruby paced madly while Sapphire was angrily gripping her dress, which was quickly frosting over with ice. The small blue gem paused when she noticed their situation, forcing herself to calm down. “I’m sorry, Twoie. Forgive us for our outburst.” Sapphire watched Ruby continue to rant angrily about all the things she wanted to do to White Diamond. “The thought of you facing her alone while we were all turned against you has left us both enraged. We are mad at White Diamond for putting you in that position.” Connie gaped at the little gems, having never seen them before. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a strong smell of burning. The young girl looked over at Ruby in surprise. Sapphire followed her gaze and sighed in exasperation at the steadily growing sheet of glass covering the sand. “Honey, you’re melting the sand again.”

Ruby perked up at the pet name, then looked down at the newly formed glass. “Oops, sorry, Sapphy.” She grabbed the shard and carried it off to the side of the cliff, so it would be out of the way. Sapphire couldn’t help giggling at her partner and was pleased to see a small smile on Twoie’s face. Ruby was always the best at making people laugh. Sapphire cleared her throat and motioned for everyone to sit down again. “Now, Connie. I don’t suppose we’ve ever introduced ourselves to you. My name is Sapphire.” The elegant gem reached out her hand in greeting.

Connie smiled and returned the handshake. “Nice to meet you, Sapphire! I’m happy to finally meet you!”

Ruby sauntered up to them and proudly pointed at herself. “And I’m Ruby! Nice to meet ya!” She plopped down next to Sapphire before turning to wave at Steven and Twoie. “I’m good now. Can’t guarantee I won’t get mad on your behalf again, though. I love you two, and the thought of something happening gets me riled up.”

Twoie smiled at her statement. That made him feel a little better about opening up, though he knew they had yet to hear the worst of it. “Thanks, Ruby. I love you guys too.” He took a deep breath and braced himself for the outburst he knew was coming. “While Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst were possessed by White Diamond, she made Pearl grab Connie so she would be out of the way. Then she…” Say it. Twoie closed his eyes. Just say it, and it’ll be done with. “White Diamond pulled my gem out.”

Silence blanketed their group. Twoie worked up the courage to open his eyes and saw the horror on everyone’s faces. Even Lion had perked up from his nap to stare at him with wide eyes. Steven was clutching his shirt tightly, and Connie was covering her mouth in shock. Sapphire and Ruby had a mixed look of guilt and horror in their eyes. Sapphire stood and grabbed Twoie’s hands. When did they start shaking? Twoie was grateful for the comfort of the cool hands, grounding him on the beach with his family.

Sapphire had always wondered what would happen if Steven’s gem had been removed. However, Steven’s safety had never been worth Rose’s potential return. She couldn’t imagine how scared Twoie must’ve been in that situation. The blue gem spoke softly, “I know there is more to this story. If you need a break or can’t tell us anymore today, then that’s fine. I don’t want to push you if you’re not comfortable.”

“Thank you, but if I don’t tell you now, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to.” The young man knew he was only talking about it because it had accidentally been exposed. He hated remembering it. Remembering the pain, the fear, the confusion. Twoie had been consumed with desperation to reunite with his other half and could barely think of anything else at the time. “We’ve always known that Steven and I are half-gem and half-human, but that’s not completely accurate.” He saw their eyes widen in surprise. “We’re actually a permanent fusion.”

Steven felt like his mind was going to explode. He was a _permanent fusion???_ “So our gem is actually a _gem_? We have two forms?”

Twoie nodded. “When Rose wiped herself from her gem, the gem became another version of ourselves.” Steven had always wondered if his mom was somewhere in his gem, watching over him. He was a little sad to learn that she was gone entirely. That wasn’t the worst thing to know, though. Steven had always known his mom was gone, so what made Twoie’s unfusion such a horrible experience? “We both have a gem form and a human form, but when they are unfused, they are unstable.” Sapphire and Ruby flinched, rearing back in terror at the implication. Steven tilted his head in confusion. Unstable?

The gears in Connie’s head were turning at everyone’s reactions. “If they’re unstable when unfused, does that mean you were both falling apart?”

Fear clutched at Stevens's heart as Twoie smiled sadly. “Yes, and no. Our two halves rely on each other. My gem form struggled to express his emotions and could not restrain himself. The half that was falling apart, though, was my human form.” His family gasped in shock. “Our human halves can’t survive without our gem halves. When White Diamond removed my gem, my human half was dying.” Steven launched himself at his brother, hugging him tightly. He decided right then and there that he hated White Diamond. He hated her for putting Twoie through so much pain. Connie, Lion, Ruby, and Sapphire joined the group hug, and Twoie couldn’t help tightly hugging them back. He honestly felt so relieved to finally talk about it. The young man knew he had never mentioned it for fear of making his family fall apart or having his fears waved off, but things were different here. His family wouldn’t do that to him here. “Thanks, guys. I’m okay now. I managed to refuse with my gem half, and White realized she was wrong.” Twoie felt a couple of tears escape his eyes and wiped them away. He laughed when his family looked at him in concern. “I’m fine. I’m just so relieved right now. This has been bothering me for a long time.”

The young man sighed. They knew now. They knew about what had happened with White Diamond and that he was a permanent fusion. He looked over at Steven and knew he had to tell them about his aversion to fusion. Twoie wanted to be a good role model for his brother. After all his talks with Steven and Connie about being open and relying on your family for help… Well, he’d be a hypocrite to stay quiet about it. “There’s one more thing I want you guys to know about.” His family looked at him in confusion. They broke off the hug, so he could see he had their attention. Twoie rubbed the back of his neck in nervousness. He was a little more worried about how Ruby and Sapphire would react. “I figured since we’re already on the subject of fusion, and the training that we skipped today was supposed to be fusion training, I should probably tell you guys that I’m not comfortable with… fusing right now.”

Steven flashed him a worried look. “You don’t like fusing? Is it because of White Diamond?” Fusion was supposed to be between two people who cared about each other. Steven had no doubt in his mind that Twoie cared about him and his family, so why would Twoie not like fusing?

“This is more of a recent thing.” Twoie felt bad. He felt like bringing it up would make his family sound mean, but he needed to talk about it. “You guys know I was struggling with PTSD after the war was over, and I kept bottling up my emotions. So, my gems weren’t aware that I often felt useless. I wanted to be needed, and several times we fused to get things done.” The young man felt his anxiety rise, so he began petting Lion again. The pink cat purred, and Twoie was grateful for his friend. “Fusion became more of a tool, instead of a bond, and I was so desperate to be needed that I went along with it every time. One time, I fused with Amethyst to fix a mistake that I caused. Another time, I kept fusing between Garnet and Pearl because one fusion was needed for a class and another for babysitting Onion. I think I fused over four times that day, and I was so exhausted at the end of it. I haven’t fused since then, and the thought of fusing with someone makes me anxious.”

Steven looked at his brother sadly. It always hurt to hear how sad Twoie was in his timeline. Before Twoie had arrived, the gems had been oblivious to his feelings. Steven knew they cared about him, but he’d accepted that his feelings would be brushed off. If it hadn’t been for Twoie, Steven knew he would’ve ended up the same way.

Sapphire looked away in shame. Fusion was a form of trust and love. She figured her fusion counterpart had never intended for her actions to come across the way it did. However, that was something the other Garnet should’ve discussed with Twoie. She should’ve made time to spend with Twoie outside of using the fusion for classes or communicated that she wasn’t just using Twoie. She felt cold at the thought that she might’ve done the same to Steven if Twoie had never shown up in their time.

Ruby glared at the ground as she thought of her fusion counterpart in Twoie’s time. Twoie had never talked about either issue with his other family, and the little red gem understood why. Their counterparts were the reason Twoie had so many problems. She angrily reminded herself that she was responsible for some of Steven’s problems as well. It didn’t matter that they had been resolved; she still felt angry for having made them in the first place. Ruby loved her family with every mineral in her gem, and she would do whatever she could to keep them safe and happy. The red gem looked over at her nephew and noted how drained he looked. “Thank you for telling us. Do you want to tell Pearl and Amethyst about everything, or would you rather we tell them for you?”

Twoie smiled at her, relieved to not have to talk about it all again so soon. “Could you two tell them? That would be great. I can always talk more about it later, but for now, I’m pretty tired.” He turned to his younger brother. “About earlier, I’m sorry for rushing into things and getting hurt. I’ll be more careful from now on, so please don’t blame yourself for what happened. Okay, Sunshine?”

Steven smiled and hugged his brother again. It would take some reminding, but he felt lighter already. His brother was right. It wasn’t his fault, and he should ask for help when he needs it. “Okay, Starbright. I promise. Can we go inside, now? It’s getting cold.” Everyone agreed, and they all headed for the beach house together. Steven knew they still had enemies to face. The war wasn’t over, and the timeline had changed with Twoie’s arrival. No one knew for sure what the future would bring, and there was always the chance that something could happen to his family. Twoie proved it, considering how often he got hurt. For now, the kid didn’t want to worry about the danger they were always facing. Steven just wanted to spend as much time with his family as he could.


End file.
